Dead Delinquents: A SYOC Experience
by Lazersword88
Summary: What becomes of morality in a world shrouded by the zombie apocalypse? The inmates of a juvenile prison find out the hard way. Cast from their protection and forced to put their lives on the line for the very guards they hate, these teenage criminals are cast into harm's way with no regard for their wellbeing. Will they all die eventually, or will they find freedom and maybe love?
1. OC Application

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here to bring you a brand new H.O.T.D. SYOC adventure. If you are already a fan of my previous and ongoing work, Dancing Through Flames, then welcome back. If you haven't read it, then I suggest you do because I've poured a ton of time and effort into the story.

The first thing you should know about this experimental SYOC story is that the mood and atmosphere will be exceptionally dark. So if you are looking for a story where everything always turns out in the hero's favor, check out We Must Survive OC Story by my good buddy rexen tsukino (btw I really like his story a lot, just using it as point).

This story will tell the stories of teens that were serving time in juvenile prison (that doubles as a high school) and what becomes of them in the impending zombie apocalypse. Many moral and ethical questions will be raised. Also I wanted to stress in this story that there will be no sacred cows, or that every character is liable to die at any time. Heck, depending on the reviewer response for some characters, the main protagonist may die and a character of not my own creation may become the main OC.

There a few extra details, restrictions and changes that I would like to point out are in effect for this story. The first is that each character must have committed a crime heinous to land in juvenile prison and was found guilty for it. Please add that into your backstories if porting over a character from another story. Along with this please come up with a 5 character long prisoner code for your character. It may incorporate numbers, capital and lowercase letters, and symbols. Should two people, despite the unlikeliness, pick the same code I'll ask one to change (decided by coin flip).

Secondly, no characters that appear in or have been accepted into my other story may be in this one. While these stories are separate, they are concurrent in terms of the universal canon they are set in. So to my existing readers, please come up with new characters.

Thirdly (flame shield up), I'm severely limiting the weapon choices characters may have. In this story the prisoners will be forced to defend the compound. However the guards and warden will hoard all the conventional weaponry for themselves. That is part of the purpose of the story, to invoke moral and ethical questions along with making you really feel like anyone can die. So the long and short of it is any weapon that could be considered valuable (guns, obvious z-day melee weapons like a baseball bat or katana, ect) won't be available to the characters. Try to be creative about weapons. The inmates will have access to a tool room, a storage room and anything they could have snuck inside without guards knowing that they wouldn't want to take away once it is revealed they possess it. P.S. – Make your weapon unique, fit your character and possibly relate somehow to their crime are all plusses.

Finally, instead of having an often unbalanced list of strengths and weaknesses, I've decided to create a skill points system in order to insure character balance. You'll be given enough points so that your character can be completely average in every regard (5/10, although I don't suggest not having any strengths), but you will be able to strengthen some areas by weakening others. More details can be found further into the app.

I will accept a maximum of three characters per person. Having a friendly relation with me up to now or having a character in my other story will not help your chances, just so it is fair for everyone. Also since I'm expecting a lot of you, you get a special option in this app. I will be putting the profiles of four possible protagonist characters down below this app. One made a brief appearance in the last chapter of my other story, another I have submitted to a few other stories but have never written about myself and the last one is completely new to this story. The last piece of the app allows you to vote for 1 or 2 of the characters you want in the story. Based on the results I will select one or two of the characters.

Also please PM the application to me. I will not be accepting any characters by review. Good luck and happy creating!

Here is the OC application:

Name:

Prisoner Code: 5 characters, no profanity please.

Crime:

Nicknames:

Age: Between 13-17 years old please, because if they were older they would be in real prison.

Birthday:

Nationality:

Ethnicity:

Family members: Status (alive, deceased, zombie, unknown, other?) and brief description of relationship with your character.

Personality: Be very descriptive, I have to know how to make them act. The more interesting the character seems, the higher chance I will use them. I understand that suffering builds character but don't make your character's life up to now awful. Either give them some happy and redeeming traits or some way to grow/evolve as a character.

History: Like with personality, be very descriptive. Also, come up with a creative yet believable story of past events that could have relevancy to the universe. Also make sure to incorporate the character's crime into this part.

Appearance: Height, weight, body build, skin tone, eye color, hair color/length/style, female characteristics (if female, cup size ect…)

Sexuality: I'm cool with anything you get and I'll try to match up a few characters based on their personality and sexuality.

Likes:

Dislikes:

Skill point allocation: Please allocate the points between each of the categories with going over or under the total points limit. 0 is lowest, 10 is highest. Perks are awarded for having 8 or more points in one stat.

Total skill points: 100

Offensive Combat Skill Tree-

Strength: Just what it sounds like, how strong the character is. 8+ strength grants access to heavy weapons.

Speed: Character's top speed. 8+ unlocks slide, a good technique to get under and around zombies.

Agility: The time it takes a character to reach top speed. 8+ unlocks quick recovery.

Dexterity: Ease at which on at which one operates their weapon without clumsiness. 8+ unlocks dual wielding.

Awareness: The higher the characters awareness, the quicker they can see critical factor on the battle field or weakness in an enemy. 8+ increases rear perception.

Coordination: A higher coordination decreases your chances of tripping and falling down, especially in pressure moments. 8+ turns your trips into slight stumbles.

Skill: Prior experience with the weapon type or combat is represented by this stat. 8+ increases the chance of a critical strike and gains a launcher technique to hit enemies into the air.

Jump: Effects jump height, the ability to gap jump and access to air combos. 8+ gains access to basic parkour.

Defensive Combat Tree-

Toughness: How many hit can your character take and can they cope with injury. 8+ greatly reduces flinch when hit.

Block: Self-explanatory. 8+ allows access to a shield type item in off hand.

Dodge: Self-explanatory. 8+ allows access to a dodge roll.

Parry: Using an offensive strike to counter the enemy's attack. 8+ stuns enemies when you parry them.

Elusiveness: Ability to weave through enemies in combat with getting hit by a stray attack. Useful when hordes attack. 8+ greatly increases breaking a zombie's hold on the character on their own.

Stamina: How long they can run and fight before tiring. 8+ for no cost on stamina for blocking, dodging or jumping.

Non-combat Tree-

Leadership: Amount of authority the character has in the group. 8+ the character's wishes begin to become more important by the prison's staff.

Teamwork: How well the character works with others. 8+ to be able to coordinate attacks with another character that has 8+ teamwork.

Luck: Self-explanatory. 8+ find a weapon out of the blue when unarmed easier.

Recovery: How fast injuries heal and stamina recovers. 8+ to start each new day with stamina full.

Creativity: Self-explanatory. 8+ allows for the creation and wielding of rudimentary projectile weapons.

Persuasion: Ability to convince others to do what they want. 8+ greatly increases how trustworthy others think you are.

Weapon(s): Since this story takes place in a juvenile prison, the weapons will be restricted by the description I gave in the preface. Also don't use a weapon that your character doesn't have the stats to use (basic projective, heavy, dual wield) without the appropriate stat placement.

Clothes: Other than the basic black and white prison garb, do they wear anything else?

Fighting Styles: Be very descriptive here. Unless your OC is a noncombatant, you need to fill this out. If they are a noncombatant, describe how they assist the group here. Otherwise, give me a detailed description of your characters fighting style with all weapons they wield and how they acquired the skills to wield said weapon (should the weapon require skills to operate) if you didn't say how in the character history.

Character(s) you want to see as protagonist(s):

*End of App*

Now here are you possible protagonist characters:

Option #1:

Name: Denise Rowland

Prisoner Code: 6g91y

Crime: Illegal Drug Possession

Nicknames: Mural

Age: 16

Birthday:6/17

Nationality: United States

Ethnicity: Russian

Family members: She doesn't know or care about her family anymore.

Personality: She is very moody sometimes and had a short temper. She likes to be in control of situations and looks down on anyone in her way. She is a bit introverted, trying to avoid dealing with people outside of her close friends, but is extremely protective of her close friends. She is extremely strong willed and will never give up on something she believes in. However, there isn't too much she really does believe in. Denise can be a bit of a pain to be around when she is angry or moody, but overall she is a nice person. Denise hates being part of the norm and would rather stick out as a rebel. She can tend to be overconfident and charges into situations without thinking. She can be quite stubborn some times. Because of her amnesia, she doesn't remember much from her past so he is constantly out to find what she can. She bounces between relationships with different guys and gals frequently. This behavior stems from an inner loneliness that she fells someone used to satiate.

History: Growing up, Denise was a tomboy because she wanted nothing to do with all the girly stuff. She played many sports with the guys and got good at some of them. However, Denise's tomboy nature continued on into middle school and early high school. She would spend a lot of time in the weight room with her guy friends and it was rumored that she could lift as much as her friends, if not more. She became a star on both the track team as a shot-putter and discus thrower, and in softball as a pitcher. She was as happy as could be. However, that all changed when her freshman year homecoming. None of her guy friends wanted to go with her because she was too much of 'one of the guys' to take seriously in romance. The sadness this event caused changed everything. Denise fell out of the group of her guy friends and into a social void. The popular guys didn't want her around anymore, she was too masculine for the girl's tastes and she was too much of a jock for the nerds. This meant that she went to fit in with the druggies and burnouts. Denise started cutting her wrists, experimenting with drugs, getting many piercings, getting many tattoos, dying her naturally blond hair black with flame blue tips and losing a lot of weight as a side effect from the drugs. As a side affect her skin got paler from its natural tan state. She spent most of her weekends sleeping with, smoking with and messing around with local burnouts. At a few points she considered suicide, but the few friends she had talked her out of it. There is a portion of her history she forgets because of her amnesia, but the only things she has to for these lost years are a stitched wound in her chest, a handful of tattoos one of which has the initials B.H. and dreams of a certain young man she never remembered meeting.

Appearance: 5'10, 200 lbs, very heavily muscular covered almost everywhere with expansive tattoos covering every part of her body except her face, pale white, bright green, dyed black hair with blue tips that flows wildly to her shoulders, D cup breasts.

Sexuality: Bisexual

Likes: The night time, her friends, tattoos, flirting with guys and girls, disobeying the warden and other officers, making out with guys and girls, fighting, acting rebellious, chocolate

Dislikes: Prison food, feeling lonely, her past, nightmares, having to follow the norm

Skill point allocation: Please allocate the points between each of the categories with going over or under the total points limit. 0 is lowest, 10 is highest. Perks are awarded for having 8 or more points in one stat.

Total skill points: 100

Offensive Combat Skill Tree-

Strength: 9 (+Heavy Weaponry)

Speed: 2

Agility: 2

Dexterity: 4

Awareness: 8 (+Rear Awareness)

Coordination: 4

Skill: 8 (+Critical, +Launcher)

Jump: 1

Defensive Combat Tree-

Toughness: 10 (-flinch)

Block: 8 (+shield)

Dodge: 0

Parry: 8 (+Parry stun)

Elusiveness: 0

Stamina: 8 (-Move Cost)

Non-combat Tree-

Leadership: 4

Teamwork: 8 (Coordinate strike link)

Luck: 0

Recovery: 8 (Full Recovery)

Creativity: 0

Persuasion: 8 (+trustworthiness)

Weapon(s): In her right hand she wields a 2x4 and in her off hand she wields a door as a mock shield.

Clothes: Has cut her shirt to show her waist and pants to make them short shorts.

Fighting Styles: Denise is the team's tank character. She attracts attention to herself and defeats the enemies with skillful blocks and parries, brute force strikes with her heavy weapons and coordinated attacks with teammates. She looks to use her launcher attack to give her teammates air combo opportunities.

Option #2:

Name: Jannet Connaly

Prisoner Code: lf0x6

Crimes: Theft, Loitering, resisting arrest, possession of a concealed weapon

Nicknames: The Magician

Age: 17

Birthday: 4/1

Nationality: United States

Ethnicity: Irish/Scotish

Family members: Whole family was killed by thieves due partly to Jannet's greed.

Personality: At school she is fairly popular for her good looks, is seen as a bit lazy, manipulates others to get what she wants, and is selfish and greedy. She tries to come off as a normal girl but is really always scheming, looking for ways to find out secrets or help herself. While working as a hitman or killing zombies, Jannet is equally cold and ruthless. She will readily turn her back on those in need if it means she is safer. She is still hyper obsessed by gems and treasure. She doesn't share much about her skills or backstory with the rest of the group, which make them distrust her. Jannet has sworn to kill a fencer named Phil Angelo for defeating her, turning her in and giving her a scar on her face. She has no problem betraying anyone in the group as long as there is incentive to. She has no remorse in killing anyone or anything except for young girls who remind her of her old self. She is actually happy about the zombie apocalypse occurring, since it makes manipulating others easier. She has a god complex, believing everything in the world is meant to be stolen and all treasure is meant for hers. Jannet will flirt with anyone as long as it means personal gain.

History : Jannet was born in Scotland to poor parents in a rundown old mining town which had run out of much of its useful ore decades ago. Jannet became obsessed with the precious metal and loved the way it sparkled, making her forget about all of her problems living in poverty. One day when Jannet was 13, a group of bandits came to rob the mine and town of anything of value. Seeing the opportunity of a lifetime, Jannet snuck into the back of the bandit's trucks and was able to make off with loot. She sold everything except the gemstones which loved too much to trade. Going back to her town to share the money she made with her parents, she found that the bandits had returned and were slaying innocents as retribution for their loot being stolen. Among the dead were her parents, friends and everyone she had loved. Deep down she was conflicted in her feelings. She wanted to cry out and mourn the loss, but she felt like it was worth it to better her life. With nothing left for her there, she left the village never looking back. After she left the village, she lost almost all semblance of morality. The only thing that makes her question her evil actions sometimes is seeing young teenage girls that remind her of her old self. She survived by stealing valuables and soon she had great skill as a thief. Hearing of even greater wealth in America, she stowed away on a cruise ship. While on board, she chanced open a large black market criminal group aboard the ship returning to America with a valuable piece of classified technology. Seizing her chance she takes the technology, but is eventually caught. Seeing her potential as a thief, the group's leader gives her the opportunity to join their organization. There she was trained in the use of many concealable weapons, learned how to spy and gather information, and was given a place to stay while going to school during the day. Eventually after a few years working with the organization, she decided to take her skills elsewhere and find her own path not working for anyone. She became the go to place if you wanted a task carried out, information on someone or someone killed. She is known for having no mercy on anyone except young and teenage girls. Her trademark weapons were her poisoned obsidian daggers, which is how to police know the hit was her. She is constantly transferring in and out of different high schools trying to dodge suspicion. She is a master as changing her appearance, being able to change her hairstyle, facial expression, attitude or even accent on the fly. One distinguishable characteristic she has is a blade scar on the right side of her face she gained in a conflict with Phil Angelo after she failed an assassination attempt on him. That night Phil turned her in to the police who sent her away to the juvenile prison of the story.

Appearance: 5'7", 110 lbs., milky white skin, deep green eyes, redhead with a plethora of different hair styles, skinny to mid-sized gymnast build, medusa tattoo on her back

Sexuality: Bisexual

Likes: Gems, treasure, money, killing, being feared, controlling others, knowing secrets, lucrative business

Dislikes: Phil Angelo, other people she can't control, targets that fight back, having to hurt young/teenage girls.

Skill point allocation: Please allocate the points between each of the categories with going over or under the total points limit. 0 is lowest, 10 is highest. Perks are awarded for having 8 or more points in one stat.

Total skill points: 100

Offensive Combat Skill Tree-

Strength: 3

Speed: 8(+slide)

Agility: 8(+quick recovery)

Dexterity: 8 (dual wielding)

Awareness: 8 (+rear perception)

Coordination: 8 (-trip, +stumble)

Skill: 8 (+critical, +launcher)

Jump: 10 (+parkour)

Defensive Combat Tree-

Toughness: 2

Block: 0

Dodge: 8 (+roll)

Parry: 0

Elusiveness: 8 (+breakout)

Stamina: 2

Non-combat Tree-

Leadership: 0

Teamwork: 0

Luck: 0

Recovery: 3

Creativity: 8 (+projectiles)

Persuasion: 8 (+trustworthy)

Weapon(s): A collection of old sharpened kitchen knives, wielded two at a time. Thrown at targets or used in quick swipes. Keeps knives up sleeves.

Clothes: Normal garbs. Shiny gemstone earrings, necklace.

Fighting Styles: Jannet bounds quickly around the battlefield, working solitarily. She uses her speed and ranged weapons to keep at a range and aims to cut enemy tendons and limbs before racing in to finish them. She is also good at midair combat and is capable of launching an enemy into the air so she can jump after them to do more damage. However, if Jannet runs out of knives, is surrounded or is tired or injured she is in trouble.

Option #3:

Name: Rodrigo Uno

Prisoner Code: qac31

Crime: 200+ accounts of Underage Gambling

Nicknames: Uno

Age: 15

Birthday: 1/23

Nationality: United States

Ethnicity: Mexican/Latin

Family members: Orphan, parentage unknown.

Personality: Rodrigo thinks of everything in life in numbers and percentages. Uno (as he likes to be called) loves the rush from taking risks that others may deem unnecessary. Uno is a smooth talker and a hustler, being able to talk people into believing him and then screwing them over later. He is innately luck, his stay in juvenile prison the first ever unlucky thing that's ever happened to him. He enjoys playing card games and other games of chance, since he almost always wins. Uno also is a major flirt, trying to sweet talk all of the women and draw them in with his bad boy allure and suave. There is a visible suave and grace to Uno's actions with classy mannerisms apparent. But don't let that fool you, he's in it for the money and girls above all else. Uno sees friends as expendable tools for his gain, except if he loves them in which case he can be quite selfless.

History: A legend spread through word of mouth of a Legendary Gambler who would travel from casino to casino and clean them out with his infamous luck at cards. Little did most people know that this man was but a young teen whose facial hair, sunglasses and classy demeanor never tipped anyone off to his age. Uno ran away from his orphanage in New Mexico, stealing a motorcycle at the age of 13 and never looking back. He would travel from town to town, getting to know the other outlaws. Some of them took pity on him and taught him valuable secrets while others disapproved of him and unintentionally toughened him up. Uno would never spend more than a few days at a time in one town, much to the displeasure of the women he wooed. He eventually bought himself a laptop and teaching software in hopes that one day he might little somewhere and live a normal, non-risky life. However this never happened as one night a drunken man at a casino got mad about losing yet another hand to the child prodigy and let loose his thugs to beat him up in the parking garage. When the police found his battered body, they discovered he fit the description of an under aged gambler wanted in many states. Therefore it was decided to send him to juvenile prison.

Appearance: 5'11", 135 lbs, brown skin, hazel eyes, short black hair neatly combed back, mustache, skinny build.

Sexuality: Straight

Likes: Gambling, the open road, many girls, hotel rooms with comfortable beds, solitude

Dislikes: Annoying people, authority, being caged up, bitter food, zombies, his life before the road

Skill point allocation: Please allocate the points between each of the categories with going over or under the total points limit. 0 is lowest, 10 is highest. Perks are awarded for having 8 or more points in one stat.

Total skill points: 100

Offensive Combat Skill Tree-

Strength: 6

Speed: 4

Agility: 4

Dexterity: 8 (dual wield +)

Awareness: 8 (rear perception +)

Coordination: 3

Skill: 2

Jump: 5

Defensive Combat Tree-

Toughness: 5

Block: 2

Dodge: 2

Parry: 0

Elusiveness: 4

Stamina: 3

Non-combat Tree-

Leadership: 8 (story character respect +)

Teamwork: 0 (he's already a leader)

Luck: 10 (+weapon find)

Recovery: 8 (stamina full+)

Creativity: 8 (+ranged weapons)

Persuasion: 10 (+trustworthy)

Weapon(s): He dual wields two metal shovels.

Clothes: He always has a deck box clipped onto his pants waistline with a deck of playing cards inside. He also wears a necklace with an ace of spades shape. Other than that it is the usual uniform.

Fighting Styles: He either slices zombies up with the ends of his shovels or throws them at the zombies in order to kill. While not a terrible fighter, Uno is best left in a supporting role behind someone else who can fight. Uno's leadership comes in handy as he commands authority, loyalty and the respect of most inmates. Uno does like to charge out and take chances though as the threat of death only adds to the rush he feels. Uno is very lacking on defense, so if he is isolated and surrounded, it's over for him.


	2. Accepted Characters Announcement

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here. While I thought this story might get a decent number of applications, I was absolutely blown away by the number who actually submitted characters. Somewhere between forty and fifty of you submitted characters to me, which presented some tough choices considering I was shooting to only have around twenty characters total in the story. So after pouring the better part of a day into picking apart each and every application sent to me, I've compiled a list of 19 characters that are accepted. And no, I didn't make a mistake in saying that 20 characters will be in the story. As for the final spot… let's just say we'll find out more momentarily.

Now I would like to add one or two more things before we meet our cast or outcasts. If you submit a character by review I did not look over it. I specifically said in my application chapter that I wanted the characters in PM form in order to be organized easier. Also applications sent to me that were hard to read were not considered because it is hard enough breaking down a character without having to decipher what the author was saying. If I asked you to make a change to a character and you have yet to get back to me at this point you can still resubmit the character so I can see if their worthy of a last minute bid into the story. However just to hurry the process, I expect all resubmissions to be sent to me by 5/6/2013 at 2 am EST (or before I fall asleep Sunday night).

I would also like to introduce my newly chosen co-author for this story, Keeper of Armageddon. His story, Bloodstained World, is currently at 100+ reviews much like my other ongoing H.O.T.D. story. Over the past few months we've been doing some friendly collaborating and idea sharing so I decided to bring him onboard for this story.

Now on to what you are waiting for, the roster.

First off, the result of the voting on the three protagonist choices is in. So without further ado, here are the results of the character voting, which was actually much closer than you might think. In third place with 13 votes was Jannet Connaly. With 14 votes in second place was Rodrigo Uno. And with 16 votes, the protagonist of this story is Denise Rowland. The voting for which of my characters was to be included was a lot closer than I expected. In the early days right after I released the story Rodrigo had built a 5 vote lead on the two female protagonists. However Denise soon caught up and pulled ahead in the voting. As I received my last few submissions, Jannet started to surge and almost caught the two. But in the end it is the tattooed girl with lost memories, Denise, who made the story. Fans of the other two protagonists need not worry, because after I'm finished this story I will continue with another new H.O.T.D. SYOC story where those two could appear as main character options again. Don't worry, if you thought this idea was creative, I have many more where it came from.

So here's the list:

"Painted Vanguard"- Denise Rowland from Lazersword88 (Class: Vanguard)

"The Doppelganger Fiend"- Alice Ooue from AcediaPrototype (Class: Lightweight)

"The Crimson Wolf"- Ichihiki Ookami from Keeper of Armageddon (Class: Rouge)

"The Beautiful Brawler"- Robin Rieu from XDreamKillerX (Class: Executioner)

"The Manipulative Salesmen"- Raul Machado from Bronyhood of Steel (Class: Clerk)

"The Fiery Comedian"- Adam Conway from Gambit Hawk (Class: Pyro)

"The Seducer"- Cassie Porter from AddictedToAngelic (Class: Support)

"El Collector"-Rojo Hernandez from giggity090 (Class: Balanced)

"The Deranged Princess"-Ariana Tyr from PandorasBox12 (Class: Lasher)

"The Cuddly Rouge"- Alexandria 'Bunny' Nightfall from bunnyeria (Class: Support Rouge)

"The Rejected Hero"-Ai Shiku from The 13 Paged NoteBook (Class: Lancer)

"The Artful Vandal"- Charlotte "Charlie" Fields from Ninja Kat Is Stalking You (Class: Javelin)

"The Disgraced Knight"-Damian Voleur from D the Knight (Class: Brawler)

"Giggles"-Amelia Lachen from POMForever (Class: Bowman)

"The Salamander"-Daniel Gonzalez from Gravenimage (Class: Traditionalist)

"The Charismatic Highwayman"-David Reiss from RicBP (Class: Leader)

"The Feared"-Iris Davidson from PandaHeroXD (Class: Berserk)

"The Foreigner" Kálmán Becskei from Diciannove (Class: Opportunist)

"The Dark Disciple" Jack Orwell from Kira version 2.0 (Class: Priest)

So now for the final of the twenty character spots, there will be a twist. If your character didn't make this list and you finished the entire app with the changes I wanted, read this carefully. I want you, in PM form, to write me detailed reasoning as to why I should include your character to be in the story. Title the new PM "Character Redemption" or I won't count it. Make sure to include good justification as to how these characters could be used to make Dead Delinquents an even better story then it currently is. Also try to incorporate in Denise, since she is my character in the story and all her information is readily available in the character application chapter. The best response will receive the final spot.

If your character is already in then congratulations! You guys really came through and superseded all expectations I've had so far. Thank you all for reading. Expect a first chapter soon. However it will have to wait until I complete the finale of the first arc of my other story. This is Lazersword88 signing off!


	3. Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here ready to get this story underway. Sorry for not starting this story any sooner. I had my finals (hard) and I also burnt out on fanfiction a little bit to be honest. However I'm planning to change my writing style a bit to ensure my longevity as a fiction writer while allowing time for other things this summer. More on that at the end. Make sure to favorite, follow, review and PM me. Also let me know if there are any problems with the way I portray a character. Now sit back and relax as I take you on an adventure you're sure to remember…

2 days before the Outbreak

It was just another morning for Thomas Murphy as he woke up in his rundown New Orleans apartment, put on his police uniform and remade his bed. The room as a whole was very well maintained, but he couldn't afford much after she had left him. He stared at a picture of the family that was gone from him, a tear rolling down his face. It pained him much he truly missed them. Walking out of the apartment complex he unlocked an old green mustang and drove off, not wanting to be late for work. He had made a promise to make a difference to those inmates every day, and he wasn't about to break it. His stomach rumbled so he stopped at the local bakery for some beignets (an awesome fried and sugared donut like pastry). As he walked back to his car he threw some pocket change in the case of a man playing jazz on the street corner. He enjoyed it more than that new rock and rap garbage.

It was about a 30 minute drive out of the city to the New Orleans National Juvenile Penitentiary. Renovated from the remains of a little known French and Indian war British fort, the penitentiary is considered one of the most functional correctional facilities in the country. Because of its reputation the 1000 residents of the facility were made up not only of local teenage criminals, but out of state and international ones as well. Facility has a 4 to 1 inmate to guard ratio and only one person had ever successfully escaped alive, however it's only a rumor. The building is massive and state of the art, despite its old and militaristic appearance externally. The building has three floors and a basement. The basement is where all 500 inmate rooms are. In each artificially lit room one finds the basics for living such as a separate small closet with a toilet and sink, a bunk bed and a cheap desk. However other luxuries such as TVs, carpet or other things to decorate the bland room are absent. 480 rooms are divided in half to make girl and boy wings. Each 'hall' was comprised by a rectangular central hallway which had rooms both on the inside and outside of the rectangle. These were where the sane were held. There was another hallway that divided the two halls contained 20 rooms where the insane were kept. None of the inmates had ever been in there and the guards certainly didn't enjoy going there as well. The boys, girls and insane halls all fed into a stairwell which led to the other floors.

The first floor could only be opened with a key card from one of the police guards, school teachers or employees. On this floor is the exit to the prison. However just because you are able to snatch a key card from someone, which many have tried, you're not home clear. The first floor is very well guarded in order to keep the inmates from escaping and to protect valuable offices and paperwork at the facility. A prisoner trying to escape would have to deal with at the very least 50 armed guards. It was rumored that anyone who didn't cooperate with the teachers or was caught violating rules was kept there. However, it is unknown what happens to people on the floor. Everyone who has ever been taken there always can't remember a thing about it when they return.

The second floor is where the school complex is located. The stairs lead into another rectangular hallway. On the exterior of this rectangle were the classrooms where those who weren't insane were given a high school education, should they cooperate with the rules. Each classroom had 3 or 4 guards in the corners for the teacher's safety despite the fact that. The interior of the rectangular hall was the cafeteria and break room. In between classes and at meals you would find those who are kept here at the N.O.N.J.P. socializing in groups. The cafeteria was only open at certain times, but more on that later.

The roof floor was only for those with permission to go there, a highly sought out privilege amongst the juvenile prison's occupants. Only those who cooperated and were sane enough could access the top floor, which was by far the nicest place in the entire prison. This was a tool of the prison administrators to encourage positive behavior and change in exchange for more roof access. The roof was far above the murky swamp area that surrounded the prison and the warm Louisiana sun shown down on it brightly. The roof had a short gravel walking or running path, a basketball court, a tennis court and a lap pool in the middle since the prison gave basic swimming gear to those with roof access. Female prisoners would sometimes lay out in the grass next to the pool to tan, much to some of the boy's delight. A large metal fence surrounded the roof to make sure inmates wouldn't try to jump off to escape.

Thomas, or Murph as everyone seems to call him, thought for a moment about one of the prisoners he would have to punish for breaking the rules. Murph didn't like punishing the inmates, because he believed it worked against changing inmates for the better. Murph believed in second chances since he too was a thug in his younger years. He tries every day to befriend the inmates who will listen to him, despite other guards telling him not associate himself with 'filth'.

The rules were fairly strict at the prison. At 6:30 AM the lights in the rooms came on and a siren was played from the intercoms to awaken everyone. Shortly after the electronic cell doors would open. Then everyone would proceed to the second floor to get breakfast and socialize if they wanted to. From there by 7:15 classes would begin just like at any other high school, with the teachers coming in from the 1st floor entrance to teach classes. There was a break in the afternoon around 12 PM for lunch to be served. Then it was back to class until 2 PM. The time between the last class at 2 PM and when dinner was served at 6:30 the inmates were allowed to roam freely in the areas they were allowed to go. Some went back to their cells. Others went and visited the wings of the opposite gender. The few scholarly types stayed in the classrooms to study while some of the more social meet in the cafeteria. Those student inmates in the 5% in terms of GPA and without discipline issues (top 50 inmates for those you who don't feel like math) are allowed onto the roof. If one has the ability to go to the roof, they almost always take it. Each door is over watched by a camera so sneaking in extra people is almost impossible. Dinner is served from 6:30 to 7:30 at which time the classroom and roof's automatic doors become locked. It is advised to leave locked off rooms because the next morning the guards would find you and you would be punished should you be caught staying there. From 7:30 to 10 the 2nd floor is locked off and everyone must return to their cell along with their cellmate. This time is meant to study and do homework while the guards go around checking that the right people are in each cell. At 10 PM the lights shut off and most of the guards go home, leaving just the night watch and surveillance teams.

Murph walked in past the guards at the door and swiped his card to get into the stairway that led down the to the inmate's cells. There was one particular inmate that he had to see. The facility hadn't really come alive yet since the alarm that began the inmate's day hadn't rung yet. However being on time to Murph didn't mean being on time for his job. He had to make sure he could speak to her for a few minutes.

The girl's name is Denise Rowland. She was brought here from supposedly Philadelphia nearly two and a half years ago where she was charged with drug possession and assaulting an officer. Why Philadelphia couldn't house such a normal criminal was beyond Murph but he was about to question their reasons. However Denise suffered from a severe case of amnesia that happened right after she was caught, before she was transferred to the N.O.N.J.P. Denise has no recollection of any of her criminal past and is actually afraid of the person she once was. However, she accepts the punishment for what she has done without complaint. Murph still remembers the first day he first met the girl.

2 years and 4 months before Z-day

Murph pounded the desk again as tear rolled down his dark brown skin before reaching his whiskered beard. Of course he would be assigned night duty the day after his wife took his daughter and left him. He had been 'too dedicated to the inmates' in her eyes. He wasn't that sad about his wife leaving him but his daughter being gone hurt him deeply because of how much he cared for her. He had been trying to write out his thoughts in a notebook as he sat in a desk at the end of one of the long halls. However with this not calming him at all, Murph decided to take a rounds of the halls. As he neared the end of the women's hall, he could hear a faint sobbing sound echoing through the hall. Intrigued, he followed the sound until he reached a room in the very back corner of the hall where two long hallways connected. He peered in and saw a young girl who looked to be middle school age crying. The girl had long and wildly flowing hair with flame blue tips at the ends. She was fairly big and stocky for a girl her age being overly muscled, starved looking and covered in tattoos all across her visible arms and legs. However the most noticeable feature of the girl to Murph was her bright green eyes, the same color as his daughter.

Murph stood outside and let the girl cry as he watched for a moment or two more before gently tapping on the cell bar. The girl looked over to the bulky bald headed man in shock. "What do you want?" she asked, thinking she was going too punished somehow.

"If you need someone to talk to, I can…" Murph began.

"How could you know anything about what's bothering me?" the girl muttered, tears still streaming down her face.

"Trust me, I've had a lot of bad things happen to me too recently" Murph said as he pulled out a key to unlock the cell door and sat down on the floor next to the girl, who instinctively slid away a little. "Sometimes it's best just to talk to someone about it and get what's bothering you off your chest".

"How the hell could someone like you understand a prisoner's problems?" the girl said loud enough that Murph had to quiet her in order to keep the others from waking up.

"I can't justify how the other guards act and I know I can't just magically convince you that I have good intentions, but maybe it will help if I told my story" Murph said.

"Ok…" the girl said, unsure of what this man was here for.

"Two days ago, I was living the life of any average family man" Murph began. "I had a beautiful wife and a daughter to match. My wife and I had been arguing a lot, but at the time I was sure I would work things out. Even more then her though, I spent almost all my time outside of work with my daughter. When I got home last night my wife, daughter and savings were all gone. All I got in consolation was a note that read 'Maybe you should have spent the time you did on the inmates with me instead'".

"I'm sorry to hear that happened…" the girl said, embarrassed at her prior behavior. "How do you get over something like that?"

"I'm not sure how…" Murph said, looking down as a single tear rolled down his face in the lightless room. "However, you remind me of her. You have her eyes".

"Trust me, I'm probably nothing like your daughter" the girl said as her bright green eyes looked her company in the face.

"So tell me, how did you end up in a place like this?" Murph asked. "It's not like the average inmate here to be crying in the night".

"I couldn't tell you and it's not because I don't want to" the girl began. "Apparently I was brought here on assault and drug possession from a city called Philadelphia. However, for some reason I had a severe case of amnesia and memory loss right before I was transferred here. I have no recollection of who I was before, what I was doing that got me arrested or why I have all these tattoos" the girl continued, admiring the body art all over her. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to think about myself. I have these weird, troubling dreams and I feel so alone here…"

"You shouldn't be afraid of the other inmates" Murph said. "Not all of them are bad people. Most just made a few poor decisions and are trying to atone for it. What's your name by the way?"

"I'm Denise. What about you?"

"Thomas Murphy, one of the police security guards. You can just call me Murph. Here, I want you to have this" Murph finished as he handed Denise the pen and notebook he was carrying.

"What is this?" Denise asked puzzled.

"It's a notebook" Murph said. "Use it to write down anything you see in your dreams or that you remember. Sometimes keeping a journal can help you make sense of things" Murph finished as he stood up and walked towards the door to unlock it.

"Wait! When will I see you again?" Denise said as she reached for the man now outside the cell.

"I can be here every day before unlock if you want" Murph said with a smile that comforted Denise.

"Thank you so much" Denise said, her eyes watery and hopes lifted.

"No, thank you" Murph said, walking away with tears in his eyes as well.

Back the present

Murph had to be there to talk to the girl that was like a daughter to him. Arriving at her cell he saw her sitting on the floor in a Zen like state with her eyes closed. Upon hearing his footsteps her face brightened and stocky girl sprung to her feet. She had cut the long sleeve shirt of this set of prison garb down to a tank top that revealed her muscular arms and six pack abs. Her pants were cut into shorter shorts which exposed much of her legs. Around her neck was a picture pendant which now held a picture of her and Murph which they had taken a while back. Murph unlocked the cell and sat down next to her.

"How did you sleep?" Murph asked after a short silence.

"I saw him again" Denise said, handing Murph the journal.

Murph read through it and then handed it back to her.

"You know you don't have to show me this, right?" he said, putting a hand on the girl's broad shoulder.

"I know" Denise said with a small smile. "I trust you though".

"You have any idea who he might be?" Murph asked, looking at the troubled girl.

"He must have been someone important to me, I just do don't remember for what reason" the girl said as her longer black her twisted and turned slightly from the AC unit in the background.

"So how's your new roommate?" Murph asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself!" a voice said, now standing right behind Murph.

The other girl viciously kicked Murph in the head and he tumbled to the ground, stunned. The girl tugged at Murph's belt and removed his key card. Denise dived and grabbed the girl's ankle as she ran for the still unlocked cell door. "Ai, think about what you're doing!" Denise pleaded.

The girl kicked Denise of and stomped on her face. "Don't get in my way, you kiss up!" Ai said, her violet tinted grey eyes filled with rage.

Ai quick got out of the cell and bolted away. Denise got up slowly and dashed to Murph's side, who was doing the same. "Are you ok?" Denise said with a worried expression.

"I'm fine" Murph said with anger visible across his features.

He picked up the radio on his belt and press some buttons. "We've got an escape attempt, basement level" he said angrily. "The escapee has my card".

"Sending help down immediately" an older voice replied before Murph put the radio back.

Murph turn to the cell door to give chase, but as he did he felt Denise's hand on his shoulder. "Promise me you won't hurt her too much" Denise said, a concerned look in her eye.

Upon seeing Denise's expression, Murph's rage lessened. "I promise" he said before leaving the cell and giving chase.

Down the hall

Heads from behind the bars popped up in attention as a short lone girl with medium black hair that ran out of the back of a black beanie dashed down the girl's wing. Ai knew she could probably make it to the first floor before the alarms but then she would be staring down at least 20 guards all by herself. Besides, she had made a promise to someone to escape together. The only person she really considered her friend. Out of everyone in the prison, she had to escape with Adam Conway.

Well that was an exciting way to leave things for this chapter! Now on to some more serious news about my stories. I've decided to shorten the length of my chapters. While this may sound bad at first, it will have many good side effects. First, I will be able to publish daily. I know you guys enjoy not having to wait long for new content so this should be a good thing. Second and probably more importantly, it will be easier for me to proof and therefore higher quality when released.

Now let's move on to more of my future plans. First, chapters in this story will be about 1-2k words in length. This chapter was a bit longer since I had to describe the prison. If you think it isn't dark enough of a story yet, it will get there soon. This chapter we met Denise and Murph, while the next chapter will focus around Jack, Adam and Ai. Subsequent chapters will cover introducing two characters per chapter. Most likely the two characters will be roomed together. Of course previously introduced characters will be around but in more minor roles for now. Once we get through all the intros, the real fun begins (evil smile).

Tomorrow, for those of you who are fans of my other H.O.T.D. story, I will be releasing that arc finale I've been promising you for the better part of a month (hopefully). After that chapter, that story will finally have zombies and switch to the 1-2k per chapter format like this story. Also I plan on starting a third story, this time an OC story in the TWEWY (The World Ends With You for all those unfamiliar, go play it cause it's a great game). This is what my rotating publishing schedule will look like.

Every first day I publish a new chapter of Dead Delinquents.

Every second day I publish a new chapter of Dancing through Flames.

Every third day I publish a new chapter of my new story (title pending). Also Keeper of Armageddon, my co-author, publishes a short half chapter to chapter for Dead Delinquents (btw the guy's a boss) told from the point of view of his OC. It should be an interesting different perspective and should totally kick ass, as should my sections.

Now for a new idea. At the end of each of my chapters I'll do a top ten list so that you guys can get to know me better. You guys can request 10 tens for me to do and I'll pick one from reviews or PMs. Since we're all here for H.O.T.D., I thought I would countdown my top ten favorite H.O.T.D. characters. Mind you, I haven't read the manga.

10) Takashi Komuro. Before you slam your computer on the floor, hear me out. Takashi is one of the worst choices for main character out of the entire cast. He looks like your average anime protagonist and he doesn't have much of a personality or anything defining about him. His only character depth comes from other characters.

9) Rika Minami. We don't know much about her yet. That's both the best and worst thing about her. Other than that she falls into a laughable amount of anime tropes.

8) Alice Maresato. Sure she is a side character, but her role in the show shouldn't be understated. She adds a sense of morality to the otherwise immature zombie romps. Bonus points for her introduction being one of the most powerful moment's in the anime as a whole.

7) Rei Miyamoto. I find her to be a rather plain character. Sure, the whole thing with Shido and her father is interesting but other than that she just goes around acting largely immature. She is clinging to Takashi one minute, complaining about Hisashi's death the next.

6) Saya Takagi. Finally some good characters! Saya is bratty, smart, annoying, clever and overall a very dynamic character. I just wish they didn't over sexualize her… oh wait who am I kidding this is H.O.T.D. we're talking about! You can't even get all the episodes on YouTube because of episode 7.

5) Shizuka Marikawa. I find this stereotypically over the top blond to be very likable and adds much needed humor to the piles of gore and fan service in this show.

4) Koichi Shido. You are probably having some kind seizure at this point. How can you put Shido so high is what I hear the intrepid readers screaming. He's one of the most universally hated anime characters. But that's what's so good about him. While Issac an Miria from Baccano!, Rider from Fate/Zero and Edward Elric from the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise are all tied for being the most likable in my mind, Shido alone takes the cake for being so hated, and that's a sign of a memorable character.

3) Hisashi Igo. Unless your name is Chuck Norris, Jet Li or Batman, karate chopping zombies isn't too smart. However jokes aside, you have to think if there was more to Hisahsi. His death will have a lasting impression on at least two of the main characters and I have a feeling there might not know about Hisashi and Rei's relationship that's unknown at the time. For now we can only speculate…

2) Kohta Hirano. Kohta's awesome. He's a unique character with an equally unique personality. The team probably wouldn't have made it out of the school alive if not for him.

1) Saeko Busjima. Was there ever any doubt. Her personality is interesting and a sharp contrast to the light and immature personalities the rest of the team has. She singlehandedly defines Takagi's character and the episode focused around her is in my opinion the best in the series so far. Also the trauma she has and her backstory are both the most detailed of all the characters, making her the deepest one in the whole show. She is also the inspiration behind countless OC characters that I have gotten.

Anyway that's it for me today. Lazersword88, signing out.


	4. Chapter 1:5: The Crimson Wolf

Hello everybody, Lazersword88 here. Just like I said, my co-author, Keeper of Armageddon, will be writing his own short segments to compliment the main chapters I write. He's a really solid writer and you should defiantly go check out his H.O.T.D. story if you haven't yet. As always, review or PM me. The input is appreciated. Now, keep it real Keeper!

About one year before the Outbreak

A boy lied back on his bed, enjoying the silence of his empty cell. It's been close to two months since his last cellmate was brought to into the insanity ward. The boy sighed at the thought as he closed his eyes. With the thought of being alone in his cell put aside, his mind thought elsewhere as today was his birthday. The boy was now turning 17, which was something that bothered him.

The boy sat up in frustration. He ran his hand through his messy crimson hair, which went down to his shoulders. He opened his eyes slightly as he looked down at the palm of his other hand. His eyes were a greyish-blue color, and they gave off a sense of loneliness. He also had light toned skin.

"One more year..." The boy said as he gritted his teeth.

Minutes later, the boy's train of thought was broken by his cell door opening. The boy looked up at two people entering his cell, one was an officer and the other was a boy in prison garbs. The boy had slightly pale skin, black hair that went past his shoulders about an inch with bangs that went down to his shoulders, which divided in the middle to show his forehead, and he had magenta colored eyes.

"This is your new cellmate." The officer said. "Behave yourselves." With that, the officer left the cell, locking the cell door as he did.

The newcomer smiled smugly at the red-haired boy. "So you must be the Crimson Wolf." The boy said as he examined his cellmate's crimson hair. "Name's Axia, looks like we're gonna be buds for a while."

The boy looked at Axia with annoyance in his eyes. "I don't care who you are, just shut the hell up when you're in my presence." The boy said, lying back down on his bed. "Why can't I just be alone when I want to?"

2 days before the Outbreak

"Ichihiki!" A voice yelled. "Ichihiki Ookami!"

A boy with messy crimson hair opened his eyes to the boy he called a nuisance. The crimson-haired boy's name is Ichihiki Ookami, or that is what he goes by. No one except the Warden knew Ichihiki's real name. Everyone else thought the name was fitting for a person like him, since Ichihiki liked to be alone most of the time, and the name "Ichihiki Ookami" meant "Lone Wolf" in Japanese.

Ichihiki has shoulder length hair, light toned skin, and greyish-blue eyes. He has a runner's body and is slightly muscular. He stands up to 6'3", and weighs 168 lbs. His prison garbs had the Prisoner Code, 8LW15, on it, and was made to his liking. The shirt's sleeves were completely ripped off, and his pants had rips and tears on some spots.

Ichihiki glanced over to his cellmate. "What is it, Axia?" The sound of his voice clearly showed that he was annoyed.

"You gonna sleep forever?! You're wasting daylight!" Axia exclaimed.

Ichihiki immediately punched Axia in the face, sending the black-haired 15 year old to the ground. "Don't bother me when your reasons are as stupid as that." Ichihiki said calmly. Ichihiki brought his attention elsewhere in his mind. 'That dream again...'

"Hey, Ichi, what are you thinking about?" Axia asked as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Ichihiki sighed. "I just got a few months left, you know." Ichihiki said, hiding what he was really thinking with a different subject.

"Ah, that's right, you're gonna turn 18 this year." Axia realized.

"Yeah, that means I'll get moved to an actually prison." Ichihiki said.

"What exactly did you do to get in here anyways?" Axia asked. "I already know what you did, so you don't need to explain, just want to know what you got charged for."

"Assault, resisting arrest." Ichihiki. "Got lucky they didn't charge me for murder." Ichihiki said as he thought back on his actions when he was on the streets.

"Ah yes, the boy with the crimson hair, going by a name that mean 'Lone Wolf'. That's how you got your nickname, the Crimson Wolf." Axia said with a smile. But when he looked at his cellmate, he saw that Ichihiki wasn't amused in anyway. He was mostly sulking in his own thoughts. "Hey, Ichi, why don't we go to the roof later." Axia offered. "Get some fresh air and examine some fine babes."

"Whatever..." Ichihiki stood up and up to the cell door, putting his hand up against it. "I was getting tired of being trapped in this room with you anyways." As soon as he finished his sentence, the alarms went off. Ichihiki smiled faintly to himself. "Another attempt." Ichihiki sighed. "When will people learn that it's just a waste of time to even try to escape this hell hole."

"Didn't someone escape before?" Axia said.

"You really believe that?" Ichihiki chuckled. "It's just a rumor that people cling on to for false hope..." Ichihiki thought for a moment. 'Hope...'

"The kid has a lot of will in him. He's a loving and trustworthy person, who never loses sight of the light of hope." A man's voice said in Ichihiki's head.

"Is that what really makes you strong, little brother?"

New chapter tomorrow (hopefully). Until then, Lazersword88 and Keeper of Armageddon signing out.


	5. Chapter 2: Dreams of Innocence

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 back in business. The arc final of Dancing through Flames is already at 15k words and I'm taking the time to make sure it's perfect. I think it's about to time I step up and pick up the slack for the genre. Quite a few of the stories that I've been following are dormant or cancelled, which is upsetting. However both of my H.O.T.D. stories will be written to completion. I just notice that very few stories make it to the finish and as a reader just like you I know nothings worse than a story with no ending. You the readers have put your time into being invested to my stories and I plan on delivering.

Now let's jump right back into the story. Make sure to read it to the end as I will continue with my end of chapter countdown. This chapter, I'll list my top five favorite anime shows of 2013 thus far. Let's begin.

Disclaimer #1: I don't own H.O.T.D., and with the number of angry fans ranting for a season 2, I certainly wouldn't want to.

Disclaimer #2: There is a certain character that makes their first appearance in this chapter that uses vulgarities in almost all of her dialogue. You have been warned… I want to keep this at a T rating to keep viewership high. In general there will be some cursing and a bit of over the top violence (that is to be expected since the source material is an over the top violent show). With that in mind there will be deep relationships, but no lemons. If you want a grocery store cart full of lemons, go read Dude492's story or Time Trax (why is it still rated T?).

Make sure to leave me a nice review at the end with what I did well, what I can improve upon and what I should do my next end of chapter countdown about.

Boy's Block, Facility Basement 6:10AM Two days before the Outbreak

The halls were still soundless as the morning alarm was yet to go off. However a firm voice at the volume of a whisper could be heard from one of the cells if one was to listen close enough. Inside the cell 3Gd33, better known as Jack Orwell, was whispering his prayers just as he done every morning while he was being trained to become a priest

Jack had been plagued with a great amount of misfortune during his sixteen years. Given that his father's occupation was a Catholic priest back in his home country of England, he shouldn't have been alive in the first place given the churches rules on priest's marital statuses. Jack's parents had two children from their secret marriage. In Jack's memories from when he was very young he remembered that he spent most of his time with his mother and that his father was very distant, always off on some church business. Jack's mother died when his younger sister Rose was born and throughout his childhood, Jack would always take his anger over her death out on Rose. However Jack's father started to take more interest in him and teaching him the ways of their God. He also convinced Jack that Rose was his mother's last gift to him and from that moment on Rose had been the most important thing to Jack. Jack's father started to teach Jack the ways off the priest and Jack's inner anger was replaced by strong religious faith. Soon Jack started working under his father as an apprentice priest. But that all changed when Rose was mugged one day on the way home from Sunday school and put in a comma. Jack's rage took back over and he attacked some of the thugs responsible. However this led to Jack being criminally tried and sent to where he is now. The trail also exposed Jack's father's lie and lost him his job as one of the most prominent priests in the country. Enraged, Jack's father disowned his two children and left Rose on the streets to fend for herself.

Jack knelt by the desk in the room, bible in hand. Reading some of the scriptures that had personal meaning to him, he thought about Rose and prayed for her safety. He longed for the day he could take care of his sister again and cursed his punishment. The thin Caucasian young man looked at himself with the small slightly scratched mirror in the desk and straightened his spiky blond hair. Who knows, he might just have to ask his roommate for the hair gel.

Jack's concentration was interrupted by a loud yawn and outstretched arms from the top bunk of the bed in the room. Instinctively rolling out of bed, the boy tumbled from his bed down to a pile of pillows that Jack had set up a few minutes before. Jolted awake by the fall, the boy picked himself up and breathed heavily.

"Good morning Adam" Jack said with a hint of frustration. "How many months is it going to be before you stop doing that?"

"I'm pretty sure that will happen the same day you stop waking up early to read your fairy tales" Adam Conway said with a sly but devilish grin.

"You never did tell me why you have that habit" Jack said, raising an eyebrow.

"In my first cell here, my bunk was the lower one" Adam said. "I guess I've just fallen out of my habits".

"Always the comedian, aren't you" Jack said rolling his eyes. "Didn't you tell me you broke out of that one?"

"Yea, but that was years ago" Adam said, adjusting the longer frontal bang of his long dark hair over his left eye again. "A few of my 'friends' at this prison and I formulated a plan to start a fire emergency and escape in the chaos. I was the only one who got away".

"Right… so you're saying I should believe that you were that mythical one who escaped that all the myths are about?" Jack said. "I think that's a lie".

"Believe what you want, but I was the one who got away" Adam said, lighting up a cigarette and inhaling the smoke as he leaned against the desk. "I'll get out again someday and when I do, I'll find the evidence I need to prove my innocence".

"Where the heck did you get a cigarette?!" Jack said, his eyes wide in surprise.

"I have a contact named Raul" Adam said as he looked into the mirror at the many scars along his torso. "He can get you pretty much anything you want for the right price".

"I may have some use for this Raul" Jack said, showing more interest. "Where can I find him?"

"You can find his name on the list of student tutors" Adam said, pacing about. "Contact him about a sale and he'll make the transaction at the study session. You also get the school help for free".

"I'll remember that for later" Jack said, standing up. "Why are you always so insistent on your innocence? The first act for repentance is to admit to your sins".

"I may have committed so minor crimes while in jail, but I'll stick by my innocence when I was convicted" Adam said, his relaxed nature taking a back seat to a sudden attentiveness.

"But even if you really are innocent, which I have my doubts about, wouldn't it just be easier to admit to the crimes you're convicted of?" Jack said, looking inquisitively at Adam.

"I would never do that!" Adam said back violently, a few tears streaming down his slightly tanned face. "I will never admit to having killed my mother. She was the most important person to me…"

Jack was taken aback by the sudden emotional reaction from one of the toughest and rebellious inmates of the prison. "If you want to get it off your chest, I'm all ears" Jack said quietly. "I can be a good listener when I want to be".

"Alright, but it's a sad story so don't complain to me later" Adam said, puffing his cigarette as small cinders fell to the floor. "I lived in a normal family back in Detroit as an only child. Everything was ok until my father left on business one day and never came back".

"But that isn't so bad" Jack mumbled. "There are tons of broken families like that".

"Well that might have been the last time we saw that bastard, but it certainly wasn't the last we heard about him" Jack said, his hand clenched into a fist. "One day these mobsters broken into our home and held me and my mom at gunpoint, asking about my father's whereabouts. Apparently he had made some deals and owed some powerful people money. When we said we didn't know, they started beating my mom right in front of me until she was a bloody lifeless corpse".

"Those are the kind of people who could burn in hell for all I care" Jack howled as Adam continued his tragic tale.

"They decided to spare me for some reason, but with what happened next I wish they would have just killed me" Adam said, sadness still in his expression. "They looted everything they could take in the house and then they knocked me unconscious. While I was out they must have planted evidence that led the authorities to believe I killed her".

"Wait, I'm confused" Jack said. "If you were unconscious and all of your belongings were stolen, how did they come to the conclusion that you killed your mother?"

"The courts were probably bribed" Adam said. "The trail went by in a flash and I was too young to know what was happening. Since we lost everything I was represented by a lazy state lawyer".

"So then you ended up here" Jack said. "Let's just pretend for a moment that I believed you and I'm not saying that I do. What would you accomplish by escaping again?"

"First, I would find the proof I need to be declared innocent" Adam said, his confidence back in a big way. "Then, I would hunt down those pigs that killed my mother and kill them off one by one. Then finally, I'm going to kill my father for what he caused. The fat pig deserves to burn at the stake".

"Well, we better start getting ready for…" Jack began.

Suddenly the alarms started to go off. Every inmate was out of their cells and standing by the bars, trying to find out what was happening. "So the plan actually worked…" Adam chuckled before throwing his cigarette stub in the trash.

"What plan?" Jack said confused.

"My next getaway" Adam said, a witty smile across his face. "I'm going to vanish like smoke and they'll never catch me".

"A meal says you'll be back here when this is over" Jack said with a doubtful laugh.

"That's a meal you won't be getting friend" Adam said, tearing off his long sleeve prison shirt in favor of a black tank top. "I've got a promise to keep to a friend".

"But I thought you said you didn't have many friends" Jack exclaimed.

"Well she's one of them" Adam said. "She has a fate more tragic then mine…"

A little bit down the hall

Ai Shiku dashed through the rectangular halls of the boy's cell block, her long black ponytail streaming behind her as she ran. Though her barely 100 lb. frame barely made a sound as she ran, a few heads turned from behind the bars as she ran by. Her slightly toned skinny pale frame was push to its limit as she dashed, the alarm blaring loudly in her ear. She could have easily just went up the main stairs and tried to run past the guards, but she had a promise to keep to only the second man to ever earn her trust. Her mind flashed back to the first time she had ever met Adam…

Two years prior

"… you're so ugly you filthy street rat" a larger girl said, the centerpiece of a click of girls surround a smaller girl in the cafeteria.

"Go away Robin, I don't want to put up with you today…" Ai's shy voice murmured.

"What did you say you ugly bitch?" Robin said, grabbing the skinnier girl by the throat. "Take that back!"

"Step away from her!" a voice rang out behind Robin.

"Who the hell do you think you fucking are?" Robin howled as her followers nodded, fake smiles lining their lips.

"What did this girl ever do to you?" Adam asked calmly. "Hell if I were that girl, I wouldn't want to talk to someone ugly like you either".

"What did you say?" Robin said, her voice teeming with anger and her fists clenched. "If a beatings what you want then I'll happily give it to you!"

"Most of the time I try to not fight women" Adam began. "But I'll make an exception for someone as ugly as you".

The stockier 5'10" girl charged at Adam and threw a heavy right hook as everyone stopped what they were doing in the cafeteria and turned to watch. However, Adam ducked under it. Robin continued to throw a flurry of jabs and punches, but Adam was way too fast. "Quit dodging you little prissy boy and fight like a man!" Robin howled as she directed and uppercut for Adam's chin.

"Too bad I don't fight clean then" Adam said, sidestepping the heavy strike. While Robin was following through on her punch, Adam whipped out a can of hair spray and sprayed it right into Robin's eyes. "Let's see how you like these blindingly fast strikes" Adam said as some of the girls in Robin's posse giggled.

As Robin cringed and leaned forward in a desperate attempt to fix her pained eyes, Adam ran up and unleashed a vicious knee to Robin's chin. Stumbling backwards, Robin tried to guard herself as Adam unleashed a lightning fast barrage of jabs and strikes. Robin swung blindly, trying to land a devastating blow. However Adam ducked under the punches and delivered a punishing uppercut to the girl's chin. As she flew up into the air, Adam finished her by kicking her out of the air with a high leg kick, sending her flying into some of cafeteria tables.

Adam walked towards Robin, who lay sprawled out on the ground. As Adam walked by, the onlookers yielded away as he stepped near them. As Adam approached, he took a water bottle from his pocket and threw it to her. "Use this to rinse the chemicals out of your eyes and the blood off of your face" Adam said, looking down on the girl. "Don't let me ever see you making fun of this girl again, or so help me I'll beat you up more".

"You got lucky you cheater" Robin murmured, still trying to get up. "I'll beat your ass next time".

"I'd like to see you try" Adam said. "You see, when I said you were ugly, I wasn't talking about your looks. You have an ugly, jealous heart. Until you change, we're going to have a problem".

As Adam walked away, Robin's posse started to follow Adam. "You're so cute and awesome" one of them said.

Adam turned to them, with a look of anger in on his face that sent shivers down the girl's spines. "There is nothing more I hate then spineless followers" he growled. "If you want to talk to me, get a life first".

As the girls cowered away and the crowd went about their business, Adam slipped back into the crowd for a few minutes to avoid the guards who would inevitably come to detain those involved in the fight. Adam was confident that no one would rat him out since the other inmates had no reason to dislike them and generally disliked the guards.

After a few minutes, Adam decided to go over and sit next to the girl he had just helped. She seemed a bit uneasy because of his presence, but Adam decided to strike up a conversation.

"You shouldn't let them bully you" Adam said with a smile. "You'll have to stand up for yourself if you truly want to get her to stop".

"Why did you help me?" the girl asked, her black hair the same color as Adam's. "You have no idea who I am and what I've done".

"I guess I just can't stand seeing people getting picked on or beat up" Adam said, looking away as he relived a few painful memories. "People don't deserve to go through what I did back then".

"What happened to you?" the girl asked, more perplexed now…

Ten minutes later

"And I thought what happened to me was tragic…" the girl murmured, clamming up a bit.

"You don't have to worry about me" Adam said with a soft smile as the eye not covered by his hair gleamed with a look of understanding and peace. "I just thought that would make you feel better".

Adam reached to put an arm around the sullen girl. However when his arm touched her back, her eyes grew wide with fright. She turned at lightning speed and hit his arm off of her, panting as fright was evident across her slightly pale white face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" the girl frantically said, her arms wrapped tightly around her chest.

"No, I should be the one who is sorry" Adam said, slightly ashamed. "I didn't mean anything by it…"

"No your fine" the girl began. "I shouldn't have reacted that way…"

An awkward silence lingered as Adam tried to think of something to say, trying to keep his curiosity about the girl in check so he didn't make her upset again. "If you don't mind me asking, did something happen to you?" Adam asked quietly, the cafeteria now dark and empty as the other inmates had left for their classes.

"I guess I can tell you…" the girl said quietly. "…since you were so open with me. It all started in Detroit…"

"Wait, I'm from Detroit too!" Adam said excitedly. "I lived in the suburbs, what about you?"

"I lived in the slums" the girl said. "What is your name? Who knows, I might have known your family".

"I'm Adam Conway" Adam said, with his trademark sly grin. "Ring a bell?"

"No it doesn't…" the girl said. "My name is Ai Shiku".

"Oh darn, I guess you were 'rung' about knowing me" Adam said, causing Ai to laugh and lighten up a bit.

"Alright, so you wanted to hear about where I come from?" Ai asked.

"Yea" Adam said. "I actually do like hearing about interesting people, but normal people bore me to death".

"Trust me, nothing about my youth is boring, because I shouldn't even be alive" Ai said, sadder again. "I never knew my real parents, and honestly I never want to. My adoptive father, a wise old man named Sam, found me in a street dumpster the night after Valentine's Day. He always said I had the loudest lungs and he could hear me for blocks. Anyways, he took me in and raised me. He was a long time drug runner in the Detroit slums and he taught me the basics of his work along with other basic skills. He always wanted to send me to school, but he didn't have enough money to pay taxes and allow me to register. I'll never understand that man's selfishness and I'll always love him for it" Ai continued, her eyes watering up.

"Jeez that sounds rough" Adam said sincerely. "What happened to him?"

"He died of lung cancer when I was seven" Ai said. "He didn't have enough money for the hospital and even if he did, he and I were wanted for our trade. I'm so ashamed that I was never able to do anything for everything he did for me. I wasn't even able to buy him a tombstone to rest in peace under".

"I'm sorry to hear" Adam said, resisting the urge to try to comfort the girl by touching her.

"Before he died, he told me to go to an old friend of his and ask to work for him" Ai said. "My life improved after that. I made more money and delivered less dangerous packages. I also was home schooled a bit by my employer. I had more than enough to support myself, but it was too late for me to start real school. Then I met my sister…"

"Wait, you had a biological sister?" Adam asked, astonished.

"No, I adopted a sister" Ai said. "One day on one of my runs I came across a girl being beat up in front of school. I beat up the bullies and helped her. I found out that she was another orphan named Kito, who was a child genius but didn't have the money to continue school. I took her into my home in my employer's basement and let her into my family. My work funded her schooling and dreams in hopes that one day she would get a high paying job and be able to carry both of us out of the slums. However, I wound up letting her down too".

"What happened?" Adam asked. "Where is Kito now?"

"One day on her way to her honors secondary school, her bus crashed and most of the people on it died" Ai said, tears welling up in her eyes again. "Kito survived, but was in a coma and needed hospitalization. Between the cost of keeping Kito's educational dream alive through continued enrollment and the cost of the hospitalization, I was pushed into desperation. I would take any and every job I could and it still didn't pay enough. So I was forced to take extreme measures. I tried to steal my employer's money so that I could keep my sister and her dream alive".

"I'm assuming that since you're here that didn't turn out too well" Adam said with a sullen expression.

"My employer caught on to me and I had no choice but to try to kill him" Ai said. "There was nothing to run away to I guess. The police were there in minutes and they soon had me in custody. Now I'm here and Kito is cared for by the state. However because of all the local political corruption, I'm sure my Kito is still in a coma if she's even alive at all. I swear that one day I'll break out an get the money I need to care for her again".

"There's no need for you to do that" Adam said, his smile back.

"Hunh?" Ai said in shock. "Why would I not want to save my sister".

"No, we are going to save your sister" Adam grabbed Ai's hands again, shocking the girl. "You don't need to steal from anyone. You can use my family's money".

"You would do that?!" Ai said, a surprised but exhilarated look on her face. "My sister's hospitalizations will cost a ton of money…"

"No need to worry" Adam said, smiling confidently. "If you help me clear my name and take my vengeance, I'll help your sister and we can all live together".

"But you'll be helping a wanted criminal!" Ai said, her worry apparent. "You'll just be wanted for a different reason".

"Sometimes you just have to follow your heart" Adam said. "I don't really mind being a convict but I just don't want to be blamed for my mother's death.

"By why help me?" Ai said confusedly.

"Did your father have any reason to help you?" Adam said. "He did because he cared and was moved by your situation. I'm the same way I guess".

"I just want to explain something to make sure you're not making a rash decision" Ai said. "The reason I reacted to you touching me earlier is because I had a few creepy men try to rape me before. It's sort of perverted the touch of all men to me".

"So does that mean you're a…" Adam began.

"Lesbain?" Ai said. "I guess I am. So if were just trying to…"

"While I respect your preference, none of that matters to me" Adam said. "We're friends no matter what. Hell, maybe in time we'll be like family. But I promise you I'll never try anything with you. However I will admit you are a cutie and I'm jealous of whoever you decide to be with".

"Adam… thank you" Ai said, hugging her new friend. She felt comfortable with him.

They met like that for every lunch hour for three year. Ai and Adam know and trust each other more than anyone. They had tried to break out multiple times to no avail, but Ai was sure that today was the day.

Present day (2 days before z-day)

Ai finished her reminiscing as she rounded the corner to where Adam's cell was. As Ai walked to the cell, Adam noticed her and abruptly finished his chat with Jack. "Good to see you!" Adam said as he and Ai exchanged a high five through the bars. "So by you being here I'm assuming that the plan is still in motion".

"It sure is" Ai said smiling as Jack stood there is disbelief. "Whose you're friend Adam?"

"You mean my cellmate Jack?" Adam said grinning. "He's the religious type but he's cool".

"Umm… hi?" Jack muttered tentatively, only to receive back a sharp stare from Ai.

"Don't like him already" Ai proclaimed as Jack had to contain his frustration by growling through an Our Father.

"That's my Ai!" Adam said. "Don't take it personal Jack".

"I'm trying my best not to" Jack said with a look that could kill.

"Got it!" Ai said after tapping a few keys on the keypad of the door.

"Now I can stretch my legs" Adam said wittily as he sauntered out of the cell like Elvis Presley.

"You guys can't seriously…" Jack said, staring in awe.

"We're getting out of here" Adam said, taking a cigarette and lighting it. "You want one Ai?"

"Sure" she said, putting the cigarette in her mouth and Adam lighting it.

"You can come too if you want since you're not too annoying" Adam said, extending a hand to Jack. "What do you say?"

"I'll pass" Jack said. "I'm not much of a fighter".

"Then I'll see you on the other side old friend" Adam said, giving Jack a salute as the bars slid shut again.

"I still have my doubts" Jack said as the two ran off without him.

Ai and Adam swiped into a room labeled 'Engineering' and Adam sat in a chair and typed some things in. Soon all the locks on the prisoner's doors opened and a few random prisoners wandered into the hall.

All of a sudden, shots could be heard hitting the door's lock and Murph busted the door down by ramming into it. "Freeze!" the heavy set man said. "Put your hands were I can see them!"

Murph walked forward towards the pair slowly, his custom M 1911 drawn and ready to fire as he moved. Adam reached into his pocket and made sure something was there that could get him out of a jam. "I said get your hands up!" Murph howled. "I don't want to have to hurt you!"

"Surprise!" Adam yelled as he kick the rolling chair back and rolled quickly towards Murph. Murph trained his sights on Adam but was hesitant to shoot. As he fired Adam flipped up and over the chair. Dexterously lipping over Murph to land on his feet, Adam sprayed his hair spray into the older policemen's eyes. As Murph screamed out, Ai silenced him with a massive kick to the groin.

Murph's sidearm slid to the corner of the room and was picked up by Adam. "Shit, it got bent" he said, tossing it aside.

Ai grabbed the chair and was about to start beating the man with it, but was stopped by Adam. "If it was any of the other detestable policemen, I'd let you go through with it" Adam began. "However, I respect his love of the inmates and he doesn't deserve to die like this. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Take his handcuffs and shackle him the computer so he won't try anything. Other than that leave him be".

Ai complied and left Murph unharmed. By now, more inmates wandered the hallways. Adam pulled up a microphone and typed in a few more commands before starting to speak. "Attention fellow inmates!" Adam began. "If you hate your dismal experience in this prison, you will work with me to break out. If you are content in your miserable experience here, then we don't need you. Very few of us will escape from here today if any of us escape at all. But every person who escapes is a massive victory, for they are people whose lives won't be wasted for crimes that they have already repented for! So if you value your freedom, prepare yourselves. For today is our first day of freedom!"

A huge roar could be heard throughout the prison's basement. "Gather you weapons and prepare your mind. For this morning, freedom is ours!"

Adam put down the microphone and looked back to Ai. "Do you really plan to let any of the others go?" Ai asked.

"No, if anyone else stands with us at the end then we will knock them out" Adam said. "I don't want more murderers released by accident".

Adam opened a closet in the room and pulled out two brooms. He then proceeds to snap the heads off them to make them dense sticks. "Stick right with me and we'll make it" Adam said, with Ai nodding.

"We will do this for our families" Ai said as the two left and joined the mob.

First Floor Guard Command Outpost

"Chief Johnson!" a guard said after sliding into his commander's office.

"What's the problem Carlson?" the old police chief asked as he ran a hand through his straight grey hair.

"We have a possible uprising and escape attempt on our hands" Carlson said nervously.

"Well then get some guards down there!" Johnson said, frustrated something so simple needed his advice.

"We've tried that sir, but our door controls have been hack and we can't get down there" Carlson stammered.

"So the best we can do is wait and defend the exit…" Johnson said, resting his head in his hands and thinking. "Patch me through to the cameras down there".

Johnson searched through the cameras until he found a good view of the mob. Prisoners of both genders stood in a circle. In the center of the circle was…

"Adam Conway" Johnson said with a snarl. "You could never just stop being a thorn in my side, could you?"

"What should we do?" Carlson said with panic in his voice.

"Get every guard armed with riot shields and tasers" Johnson began. "Also get all the teachers upstairs to the classrooms and out of harm's way. We want to stop them, but not kill them".

"Sir, should we call in…" Carlson began.

"No!" Johnson howled. "I'm not calling him in!"

"This seems like a time where we may need him" Carlson said.

"I won't let that hothead take charge of this and hurt someone!" Johnson replied.

"Then why did you fire him two and a half years ago?" Carlson asked.

"Because he is one of the best combatants in police history" Johnson. "However, I can't justify his skewed set of morals".

"I think we may need his help this time" Carlson said.

"Fine…" Johnson said, clearly frustrated by the position he was in. "Call in Laz…"

Main Stairwell

A group of inmates about 300 strong stood near the door to the first floor and the fight of their lives. Adam stepped forward to deliver a few final words before the fray begins. "In a few moments I will open this door. Once we get out there, it's every man for themselves. How, know this. Every person who escapes this prison is a moral victory for us all. I wish you all luck" Adam finished, even though the only people he really wished any luck for were Ai and himself.

With a quick swipe of the key card Ai stole, the inmate poured into the narrow office corridor where the police were waiting for them. "Hang back for a minute" Adam said, holding Ai's shoulder so they wouldn't be separated. "You brought an extra pair of your welding goggles right?"

"Yea, here you go" Ai said, handing the extra pair to her friend as Adam handed her a bandana. "What's this for?"

"In case they decide to use some kind of sedative, these bandanas should limit how much of it we breathe" Adam said. "Are you ready?"

"Yea" Ai replied back as the two rushed towards the ensuing chaos.

Inmates charged at the shield wielding guards in attempt to break their lines. However, the guards were holding their line and soon the piles of unconscious and shocked inmates grew dramatically. "Follow my lead!" Ai called out as Adam nodded, falling close behind.

Ai ran near the wall of shielded guards and jumped up towards the wall. Vaulting off of it, she landed behind their lines. Adam followed behind, but stumbled and almost tripped. However, Ai was there to catch him. The guards behind the line noticed the two and ran towards them. A guard tried to draw a taser, but his arms were bashed by Adam's makeshift staff.

However, Adam failed to see a second guard on the other side about to launch his taser at him. At the last possible second though, Ai pushed him out of the way and was shocked instead. Tears filled Adam's eyes as he saw his friend in such great agony. However, that sadness turned to anger as he picked her staff and used both of them to pummel the guards around them.

Adam looked at Ai's still trembling body and thought for a moment that he could escape if he left her. However he kicked himself for even thinking that thought after he made her that promise. Picking her up in one hand and his staffs up in the other, he raced past the other guards and made it through the exit doors.

Adam was blinded by the sun for a moment as he ran out into the vacant courtyard. His eyes hadn't seen the sun in a long time. Adam found it strange that none of the guards inside had bothered to follow him and kept his guard up. Suddenly out of nowhere, a motorcycle sped down the road towards Adam. The vehicle stopped in front of Adam as a blond haired man who looked to be in his early twenties hoped off the motorcycle. Adam noticed that while this man was definitely an officer, there was something different about him. He wore a thick black biker's jacket over his police uniform. A thick pair of black sunglasses was worn on his small pointed nose and a short ponytail was fed through the back of a plain black hat.

Adam thought that the man had an oddly rebellious nature for an officer. Observing the man more, Adam made out two straps for long knives and two revolver holsters.

"Who the heck are you?" Adam asked, laying down Ai gently onto a patch of grass besides the road.

"My name is Laz Richards, but you can call me Laz" Laz said. "Also I'm the worst nightmare of scum who don't deserve to live like you".

"Well, I guess there's only one way to settle this…" Adam said, picking up both makeshift staffs and twirling them artfully.

"So you are skilled, you garbage" Laz said. "Very well, I'll give you a proper warrior's death".

"You will try" Adam said. "By I have my dreams to live for and hers too".

"I'll never understand you simple humans" Laz said. "With your emotions and caring for others. It's just a waste of time. You could have gotten away ages ago if it wasn't for that filthy girl".

"What are you not human?" Adam said. "You bleed red just like the rest of us, and I'm about to prove it".

"Do you really think you stand a chance?" Laz said. "I used to be a police assassin and now I'm on the road to being a God. What can you do?"

"Let's find out how far your overinflated ego gets you then" Adam said with a small grin.

The two charged straight for each other, yet Adam noticed something odd. "This loon hasn't draw any of his weapons!" Adam said. "What does he want to get beat down?"

Adam swung rapidly with his staffs as Laz effortlessly dodged then barrage with quick sidesteps. However, Adam soon had the man in his sights. He swung with one staff at the man's head and Laz blocked that one. However, Laz was unaware of a second swing that would sweep him off his feet.

However as if he knew where the swipe was without even seeing it Laz jumped and twisted in midair to dodge both strikes. Landing on his feet, he punched Adam in the chest and sent him toppling to the ground. After sliding for a few feet, Adam slowly picked himself up. "Jeez… I'm… out of breath… from a single punch" Adam said.

Adam cough and spit out blood as he soon felt a severe pain is his ribs around where Laz punched him. "Ready to give up and die yet?" Laz said as he smiled fiendishly. "I enjoy watching garbage like you squirm".

"I'm so close to my goal, to our goals" Adam said, looking over at Ai. "I can't lose to this clown".

Adam was back on his feet, but was feeling dizzy. Laz walked up to him and drew one of his revolvers, loading only one of the six chambers. He then gave the chamber a spin and pointed it at Adam. "Hope you've made your amends" Laz said, finger on the trigger.

Laz's finger pulled the trigger and luckily for Adam no bullet fired. "Let's see how much longer you remain lucky" Laz said, chuckling as he loaded a second bullet into its chamber and spun the cylinder again.

Adam dashed towards Laz and threw a right hook as hard as he could, but was swept off his feet by a lightning fast kick from Laz. "Stay at my feet you filth" Laz said.

Suddenly, Ai sprang up and tried to punch Laz in the face, only to be knocked down herself. Sliding to a stop near Adam, she crawled over to his side and knelt in front of him.

"You best get out of our way" Laz said. "This quarrel doesn't involve you".

"What are you doing?" Adam said weakly. "Get out of here! Run!"

"I'm not leaving without you" Ai. "You didn't give up on me, so I'm staying".

"Fine, if you want to die together I can make it happen" Laz said, pulling the trigger again and not firing again. "Man! You guys really are lucky! Most of the time people are dead by now".

As Laz loaded a third shot into his six shooter, another figure came into focus at a distance. "Well the great police chief Johnson graces me with his presence" Laz said laughing out loud. "This really is my lucky day!"

"Lazlo, drop the gun" the old chief said, drawing his weapon.

"I hate being called that!" Laz yelled, fixing his aim on his boss now. "Don't think I won't kill you too."

"Don't make me shoot, because I'll do it" Johnson said, his aim focused on his subordinate's head.

"Fine, I quit" Laz said sadly. "I don't know why you ever have fun like that. Such a waste".

Laz picked up his gear and drove his motorcycle to the front of the prison. Meanwhile Johnson walked over to the two escaped inmates. Ai was looking over Adam and trying to assess his injuries. "I'm sorry you had to go through with that" Johnson said with a sullen face.

"Tell me chief" Adam began with a weak smile. "Do you know why I try to break out so much?"

"Yes, I've read your case file" Johnson said. "If you come back with me, I'll send my best investigative team to look to clear your name".

"I've been promised that so many times, yet I'm still here" Adam said. "I'm not sure if you will go through with it. I want you to promise me something chief. Can you have your men find her sister and make sure she's ok".

"Adam…" Ai said, surprised yet again by his underlying selflessness.

"I can do that, if you come back with me" Johnson said. "Can I help you up?"

"No, I can carry my own burden" Adam said, struggling up. "By the way, what is he? He almost broke my ribs with one punch".

"No one knows" Johnson said. "A few years ago we needed a new top guard and he was the best fit. I think he came from Philadelphia or something. His 'God' babble gets on my nerves, but he does his job. However, unlike most of the other guards, he has no morals. He kills anyone he feels like and that sort of scares me".

"Why are you telling us this?" Adam asked, confused.

"Just so that if he ever threatens you, you'll know his words aren't empty" Johnson said. "Let's get you to the medical wing".

A bit later Johnson's office

"I'm sick and tired of you going around like a loose cannon" Johnson howled as Laz stared around, not a care in the world. "Because you tried to murder them, I can hand out any punishment to them or any of the attempted escapes. And if you had killed one of them, it would have ruined our reputation".

"Like I care about that" Laz said. "All I care about is cleaning up the garbage in this place, and those two are criminal garbage, just like the rest".

"That's where you're so mistaken" Johnson said, shaking his head. "Sure they've committed crimes, but we are here to reform them and let them reconcile their acts, not to murder them. You should be begging for your job, not trying to justify what you did".

"Don't tell me what to do" Laz howled, standing up. "I deserve a bloody promotion for my actions. If it wasn't for me, many people would have escaped and this prison would be a joke. We're done here".

"Laz get back…" Johnson began to say until he realized his words fell on deaf ears. "What am I going to do about him? He's as troubled as the inmates…"

Johnson heard a light knock on the door and turned to see Thomas Murphy standing at his door.

"Come in and sit down" Johnson said a bit sternly. "You have some explaining to do".

"The break out was my fault" Murph said sullenly and truthfully.

"I was half expecting you to deny you did, but you once again are proving you're an honest man" Johnson said. "I guess there's a reason you're on the council board. I think the better question is why you were down there that early?"

"I was visiting someone important to me" Murph said as Johnson raised an eyebrow. "I know you always preach about not getting attached to any of the prisoners, but I was foolish and got attached to one anyway".

"I think I would understand it better if you told me why" Johnson said, his hand on Murph's shoulder.

"The girl's name is Denise Rowland" Murph began. "She reminds me of my daughter Mitch".

"That's right, you did experience a lot of heartbreak recently" Johnson said sympathetically. "Denise herself is a bit of an enigma".

"Because of her amnesia, right?" Murph asked.

"Not just that" Johnson said. "Our behavioral analysts suggest that she may have developed a second, newer personality after her amnesia and that her old personality may still lay dormant. As much as it seems that Denise doesn't belong here, we have to get to the bottom of getting her memories back. I'm warning you Murph, if she remembers too much, she may not be the girl you remember or envision her as".

"None of that matter to me" Murph said. "It started as just a means to forget what's happened to me, but I care about her as her own person now, almost as if she was family. Even if she does remember, I know, that scared girl afraid of what she is, the Denise I know won't go away. And even if she does, I'll care about her just the same".

"The world doesn't make good men like you as much as it used to" Johnson said.

"I'll take the responsibility for what has happened" Murph said setting his badge and gun on the table, waiting for a response.

Mitch Johnson pushed the gun and badge back to Murph's chest. "I have something else I want you to do, so keep the gear. I want you to promise me that you won't stop going down with her every morning".

Murph was speechless for a moment. "Thank you sire" he said, his eyes watery.

"Now get a move on" Johnson said. "Classes need to start soon".

Whew, what a chapter! I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. I think the characters you guys gave me are so awesome. Please feel free to review and PM me about the story or anything really.

Now, onto my top 5 end of story countdown. As I said last chapter, I'll do countdowns at the end of each chapter of the story from now on based on your requests. One that caught my eye was my top 10 animes of all time. However, I need a bit more time to gather my thoughts and make that list. So instead I give you, Lazersword88's Top 5 Anime Shows of the Winter 2013 season. Though winter season are usually a bit weak when it comes to new shows, this one was an exception. Let's get started and recommend so new show for you to watch.

Honorable Mention: Maoyu (a.k.a. Demon King I think)

Maoyu had some of the most potential this season, but wasted it in a manner such as Sword Art Online. Set in a medieval fantasy world this show had what it takes to become the next Beserk, but never cashed in on its promise. The premise is interesting. It's about the unlikely romance between the Hero of the land and the female Demon King as they try to find a way to unite the warring demon and human realms peacefully. However besides the interesting leading trio, the anime is lacking. The romance falls flat, there isn't a battle scene until the second to last episode, too much time is spent on uninteresting supporting characters and the show tries to tell a Spice and Wolf style economics story except it fails to do so. A lot of people liked this anime and were draw into it by its very good opening two episodes and one powerful episode midway through, but it wasn't the best.

Number 5: Cuticle Detective Inaba

If you like action animes or have a closed mind, keep on reading. The first thing you should know about this show is that it is weird, and sometime not in the quirky likeable way. However, if you can get past the stupidity of the premise, then you're in for a treat. This anime is the funniest comedy anime I have ever watched. Following the exploits of a police werewolf hair fetishist (I know right) and his gang of a super serious cop partner, a normal guy who is somehow the smart one and a cross dresser with temper issues, this show is absolutely hilarious at moments. However, about halfway through, the show started to take itself way to seriously and the in jokes got a bit repetitive. However, I appreciate the show because it satires anime as a whole so well.

Number 4: Problem Children are Coming from Another World, aren't they?

This anime has a good number of flaws. It's only 12 episodes, the plot is cliché and one character in particular is overpowered as hell. However, it is animated freaking brilliantly. The fight scenes in this anime are absolute eye candy. The premise is that three teens with superpowers get transported to a mystic land… bla bla bla, you've all heard this before. I do like the focus on the main 5 or so characters and one fight mid-season is so epic. There also may be a season 2, or at least the ending makes it feel that way.

Number 3: The UNLIMITED Hyobu Kyosuke

This show was the prequel to some other anime I could care less about. However this show has quite a bit going for it. For starters, the main three characters were all really cool and by the end, you really cared about what happened to them. The animation was gorgeous and the concept about psychic wielding individuals called espers was kind of neat to. Throw in some mature topic such as discrimination and you've got yourself a decent anime. Also the 26 episode run time helps flesh out a key character whose dilemma you really feel for. Give this one a go if you like action with some decent characters.

Number 2: Amnesia

I never expected to like this show as much as I did. Amnesia is a mystery story with reverse harem elements that poses a very scary question. What would happen if you woke up and you didn't know who you were at all? What if every time you do, remember something or make a mistake your entire world changes. It's always subtle changes like people's personalities or who you're dating, but you can't help but get the feeling that you're being stalked. Based on the Japanese Videogame series of the same name, this is by no means an action anime. The story mechanic is awesome, the world is colorful and vibrant, and the supporting characters are great. The show only has two flaws. The first is the main heroine, who is a bit of a wish fulfillment character and the second is that the ending leaves a whole lot to be desired.

Number 1: Blast of Tempest

This show is awesome, enough said. The show follows two uneasy high school best friends as they navigate the mystery surrounding an age old conflict between mage clans that threatens to tear apart the world. This show may hurt your brain, since in order for some of the theories to make sense you'll need at least some knowledge of time and space physics. Also, the show has a lot of arguments about logic, especially at the mid-season finale. However everything else about it is awesome. Two awesome twists, four extremely memorable characters and intense action are all this shows high points. It also has one of the emotional scenes I've ever seen around 2/3s of the way through. This is by far the best show of the winter season.

There you have it! Hope all of you enjoyed the read and I'll see you next chapter. Lazersword88 out!


	6. Chapter 2:5: Crimson Past

Hello there! Lazersword88, here again to bring you more Dead Delinquents.

This is the second and final part of Ichihiki and Axia's introduction, written by my awesome cowriter Keeper of Armageddon. We are collaborating on each of our most recent stories. I will soon write a segment or two for his new story Enigmatic World. Please be sure to check out the story as well as Bloodstained World, another great story from Keeper. I will write the next chapter as soon as I finish the finale of my other story, Dancing through Flames. Please check out all three stories and enjoy this short bit from my coauthor. Please be sure to leave a review with your thoughts as well. Also, check out my extra segment at the end about the two 2nd quarter 2013 anime shows you should be watching.

P.S. We will meet Robin, Charlie and Alice O. next chapter.

2 day before the Outbreak

Minutes after the alarm went off, the doors to the cells all unlocked. Most of the prisoner could be found about in the hallway, attempting to escape or fighting with the prison guards. Ichihiki was part of the few who chose not to participate in matter, while Axia chose otherwise. Yet still, Axia was in the cell he shared with Ichihiki, trying his best to convince him to join in in the escape.

"Come on, man, this could be it!" Axia exclaimed as if he were trying to send all his emotions over to the numb Ichihiki through his voice.

Ichihiki, who was sitting silently on the bottom bunk, slowly stood up, muttering under his breath. Axia seemed to light up for a moment before realizing that Ichihiki was grabbing a folder on the desk. Ichihiki opened the folder to make sure he had what he needed. Once he had confirmed so, he made his way to the cell door.

"Ichi, where you heading to? Are you going to take part in the-"

"I don't care about this little escape thing." Ichihiki said, interrupting Axia. "And if you really want to know, I'm heading to class."

"Wait, what?!" Axia said, surprised.

"Later..."

Ichihiki walked out of the cell, not caring of what will become of his cellmate. After maybe a few minutes of walking through a crowd, Ichihiki found himself staring at a large group of teens looking at a male teenager, who stood in the midst of the crowd. Ichihiki knew this teenager to be Adam Conway. He had no real relationship with Adam, he just knew him due to Adam's history of escape attempts.

Ichihiki leaned against the nearest wall to him, running his hand through his crimson hair. He was waiting for the right moment for him to get to the second floor. If he were to just walk out in clear view on the first floor, he knew he was in for a bunch a bolts shooting up and down his body from the tasers that would be shot at him. It took a few moments, but Adam's little escape attempt was going underway.

As the teenage prisoners piled into the first floor, Ichihiki made his move. When he made it to the first floor, he was welcomed by pushes and shoves. Near the entrance of the prison, Ichihiki saw a line of shields blocking the path of the prisoners. Ichihiki could have sworn he saw Axia take a taser to the back before going up to the next floor.

"Freeze! Hands on your head, kid!"

Ichihiki was welcomed to three handguns pointed in his direction as he reached the second floor. Ichihiki sighed and looked from officer to officer.

"Haven't seen you guys around here before..." Ichihiki said, softly chuckling to himself. "Must be the newbies that came in."

"I said hands on your head!" One of the officers yelled.

Ichihiki began to quickly examining his surrounding as he set down his folder, seeing if there was anything he could use in the situation he was in. Ichihiki noticed a pipe like object hanging above him. It was pretty thin, but looked strong enough to support him. He also noticed that all three officers had a nightstick on them. If he could catch anyone of them off guard, he could get a weapon for himself easily.

"Alright, Prisoner-"

"8LW15..." Ichihiki boringly told the officer. "I take you don't know who I am. Am I right?"

"You're just another prisoner." One of the other officers said. "I'll cuff him."

As the one of the officers walked up to Ichihiki, Ichihiki was preparing himself. As the officer was about to handcuff him, Ichihiki quickly brought the officer over his shoulders and slammed him on the ground, knocking the air out of the officer. He then proceeded on jumping up to the pipe, grabbing on to it and swinging forward, then letting go off the pipe, kicking one of the other officers in the chest. The officer was knocked to the ground, gun slipping out of his hand.

The final opponent Ichihiki was to face pointed his gun at Ichihiki, fully intent on pulling the trigger. But Ichihiki reacted quickly, kicking the gun out of the officer's hands. He then brought the leg he kicked with back, hitting the officer across the face, knocking that officer to the ground.

Ichihiki made himself more lax as he took a normal standing position. "Looks like I didn't need those-" Ichihiki suddenly stopped talking as he felt multiple bolts shoot up and down his body.

After the shocked subsided, Ichihiki fell to one knee. One of the officers that he had knocked down had gotten back to his feet and shot Ichihiki with a taser.

"Heh, not so tough-" The officer was interrupted as he took an uppercut under his chin.

"Shut up..." Ichihiki said as he tried to ignore the pain he was feeling.

"Ichihiki Ookami! Stand where you are!" Said a voice from behind Ichihiki.

Ichihiki chose to ignore the voice and decided to walk over to his folder to pick it up. He then turned to face a familiar looking man.

"Chief Johnson..." Ichihiki muttered.

"If you're trying to escape, you're in the wrong place." Johnson said in a calm voice, no weapon in hand.

"I haven't tried to escape ever since I came here, why would I try now?" Ichihiki said, walking up to Johnson. "I was headed to the classroom until your lackeys took me for those idiots on the first floor."

"Still as cold as you were when you got here." Johnson said, Ichihiki just rolled his eyes. "I was meaning to call for you."

"What?" Ichihiki said, an eyebrow rising.

Johnson pulled an envelope from out of his pocket and handed it to Ichihiki. Ichihiki stared at the envelope, his eyes catching a familiar name as he looked at it. The envelope was from "M. Blackwood", who was none other than Mackenzie Blackwood, Ichihiki's caring step cousin.

"She's writing me now...?" Ichihiki said, a different tone in his voice. He seemed a bit more soft than he was moments ago.

"I also have a letter from a man named, Angelo Suzuni-"

Ichihiki just walked past Johnson, putting the letter from Mackenzie in his folder. He didn't want to hear the name of the man who married his biological mother. He no longer held the grudge he had for him, but he just didn't feel like hearing it. He was already questioning himself for the actions he chose as "The Crimson Wolf", and he was also having strange dreams.

With his mind on the matter, Ichihiki felt like time was going a bit slower. He began to remember the night of his arrest.

About two years ago

A 16 year old boy walked the streets, the moon shining down on him, his crimson hair giving off a soft glow. This boy was Ichihiki, or, known better as, The Crimson Wolf. Ichihiki kept in the shadows, following a man and his two daughters. He was trying to confirm whether the man was the man he was looking for. This man he was looking for went by the name of Angelo Suzunika, the man who Ichihiki's mother remarried to.

Ichihiki was seeking a sort of vengeance, or that's what he told himself. All the pain and suffering Ichihiki went through had almost cost Ichihiki's his life three times too many, and he had thrust all the blame for it onto the man who married his mother.

Ichihiki began muttering to himself after he had confirmed that the man he was tailing was Angelo Suzunika. He grabbed the hilt of his katana, which was in its sheath, strapped over his shoulders. He shook his head, deciding to adjust his black trench coat, then proceeding to walking out in the open, in the direction of his target.

It seemed that his arrival and plans were already known, because as soon as he came out of the shadows of the night, police officers started coming into view. All of them were walking his way, all with their hands at the ready to pull out their guns. Ichihiki gritted his teeth, but kept at a calm pace.

Angelo and his daughters stopped in front of a building, waiting for something or someone. Ichihiki wondered if Angelo knew what was going on and was just mocking Ichihiki. With this in his head, Ichihiki felt infuriated. He carelessly unsheathed his katana, making the officers walking his way pick up the pace.

The crimson-haired boy soon found himself surrounded, guns being pointed at him from all directions. In this situation, Ichihiki only muttered under his breath, then sighed to himself. As he looked at the police officers surrounding him, he felt as if everything was going a bit slower as he thought to himself.

'I'm so close!' Ichihiki thought. 'He's just in my reach!'

"On your knees and hands on your head!" One of the officer said, stepping forward, one hand held his gun and the other hand was reaching for his handcuffs.

Ichihiki silently chuckled to himself. "This a nice setup you have here, circling me while having your guns pointed in my direction..." Ichihiki looked at the cop that stepped forward to cuff him. "Tell me, was it you who planned this?"

Without warning, Ichihiki charged at the officer, the others began to fire.

"Hold your-Gah!" The officer yelled in pain as the blade of a katana sliced a deep cut in his chest.

"You're all real smart..." Ichihiki muttered as the officer fell to the ground. Ichihiki looked at the other officers, who were in the midst of checking on their wounded who had taken a bullet from the careless firing. "Now..."

Ichihiki made a dash for Angelo, who was still waiting in front of the same building. But Angelo was now staring at Ichihiki as he began getting closer. Ichihiki rose the blade to a position to where he could stab Angelo through the stomach. Getting even closer, Ichihiki noticed that Angelo had still not moved from his spot, nonetheless drew a weapon.

"Are you mocking me?! Angelo Suzunika!"

Just as he got a few feet away from Angelo, a small girl of the age of 6 got in his way, the youngest of the two daughters. She was telling Ichihiki to stop, but Ichihiki ignored her pleads. He was acting blindedly through rage. He wanted to kill Angelo, even if it meant he would have kill the young girl before him.

When the blade of the katana was just inches away from the little girl, the sound of metal meeting metal reached Ichihik's ears. His katana was forced to the side due to another katana. A mere second after that, Ichihiki received a hard punch to his face, knocking him to the ground.

Wincing a bit from the pain, Ichihiki looked up at a teenage boy who looked a year or two younger than him, and a 10 year old girl. Both were glaring down at the crimson-haired boy, the other teenage boy pointing his blade down at Ichihiki, and the girl cracking her knuckles as if she were threatening him.

Ichihiki was staring into the eyes of the teenage boy, realizing who was standing before him. It was his brother. He knew because of the boy's eyes were the same color as his, the same color their father had.

"Who do you think you are, huh? Intending to run my little sister through!" The boy yelled. "Who the hell are you anyways?"

"Of course, you don't know..." Ichihiki muttered to himself.

"What was that?" The oldest of the two daughters said. "Couldn't hear you? Speak up or I'll hit you even harder this time!"

"Kids, that's enough..." Angelo said. "Mark, bring the girls home, I have this under control."

Hesitantly, the kids left. Angelo cuffed Ichihiki to a bench and went to check on the conditions of the other officers. After time passed, Angelo later returned with a car. To Ichihiki surprise, he was uncuffed completely, then he was brought to the backseats of the car. Ichihiki was quiet and unresponsive for the first few minute. He didn't know what to think, nor what to say. He just stared blankly at the car floor as Angelo drove him to his next destination.

"I know who you are." Angelo said.

Ichihiki didn't answer to this, but he heard Angelo clearly. He couldn't care less if Angelo knew who he was and why he was doing this. His mind was set elsewhere. He looked up to the rear view, almost glaring at Angelo, who was oblivious to Ichihiki's stare.

Or so Ichihiki thought.

"What is it?" Angelo asked.

"Why?"

2 day before the Outbreak

Ichihiki sighed as he waited outside the door of his class. He was looking at the still sealed envelope from Mackenzie as if he were debating on whether or not he should open it. The last he heard of his step cousin, he was told she had moved to Japan. Had she returned to America, and for what reason?

Ichihiki returned the envelope to his folder.

"Class is going to begin soon. This..." Ichihiki paused in thought. "This could wait..."

Wow, good job Keeps! I especially like the Mark Kuzen cameo in this chapter. This is Lazersword88 again to give you this extra segment.

Now as many of you know, anime is released quarterly in 12 to 13 week intervals. The winter to spring season this year was strong with the shows I told you all about in the last chapter. However the spring to summer season wasn't nearly as good, being dominated by many shows that were either corny, cliché or just plain unwatchable. Thankfully for you, you have me here to steer you away from all the rubbish and let you in on the 2 diamonds in the rough this season.

One that most of you probably already know is the massively hyped Attack on Titan. This show has hype for a good reason, as the concept is very mature and very awesome with a great cast of memorable characters. Set in an alternate medieval/colonial/slightly steampunk world overrun by huge humanoid creatures called titans, this story has great characters (Mikasa Ackerman is the biggest standout), gorgeous animation, brilliant fight scenes and a lightning fast pace. It would be best to catch up now as the show is about halfway through its 26 episode first season runtime. However with all of its success this show could become the next Naruto, which I wouldn't really mind.

The other, lesser known great show from this now just past season was Garagantia on the Verdurous Planet. This show is a sleeper anime, meaning it gets better as it goes on. Between great characters, a cool concept, horrifically realistic circumstances of future actions, mature concepts like humanity and evolution, multiple jaw dropping plot twists and an unforgettable final episode, this show is worth a watch. Plus the opening is catchy as hell.

Alright thanks for reading! Be sure to review, check out Keeper and I's other stories and check out the cream of the crop from the past season's selection of new anime. Lazersword88, out (an working frantically on D.T.F.)


	7. Chapter 3: Door to Insanity

Hello there everyone, Lazersword88 back here with another Dead Delinquents update. We'll jump right in to this update after a few brief notes and announcements. I will be updating this story every other day for the rest of the summer. I'm hoping I can get most of the way through it before I start living on campus again. On the days I'm not updating this story I will be updating Dancing through Flames, which is my other older but just as awesome H.O.T.D. SYOC story. If you've yet to check that out please do so.

Make sure you read to the end of the chapter people for my top ten countdown. I know a few of you have been requesting my list of top animes but I felt like I needed to expand it to a top 20 and really think it through in order to have my list be quality. The top 10 list at the end of this chapter will instead be the top ten H.O.T.D. SYOCs. If you were looking for more zombie stories to read other than my own, this might be a good place to look.

Be sure to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter. I make sure to read every review I get, so it will be worth your time. Also, unlike most authors, if you have an idea for some plot events please feel free to send them. I may implement the ones I personally like.

All right, I'll start this story and I'll see you at the end of the chapter…

During the events of Chapter 2 Women's Block

"Hey freak, got your lazy ass off the floor!"

A tired girl thought she heard someone yelling at her, but decided to not worry about it. "Is there any coffee?" the girl still asleep muttered.

"How about this!" the other girl said, kicking the sleeping girls stomach hard and shocked her awake. "Kickachino to the stomach, on the house!"

"What the heck was that for Robin!" the now awake girl said furiously at the girl standing.

Robin Rieu only stood at 5'7", but her presence where ever she went along with that confrontational attitude of hers made her seem much taller. Dressed in only underwear and a bra, Robin's slightly pale but muscular body was visible from practically head to toe. Robin's light blue eyes glared at the girl on the ground as a fan in the room blew her long, puffy and messy mass of light brown hair from side to side. Right below her smaller B sized breasts was a long and nasty looking blade scar that was about 4 inches in length. She had gotten this scar from the series of fights which led to her being taken into custody. Not even missing a beat, she became this prisons resident bully, just as she had been back in high school.

"I need the floor for more my morning exercise, but you rolled out onto it you stupid shit" Robin said. "I was yelling at you to move for like a whole minute Charlie Brown".

"Well maybe you should have just lifted me up and bench pressed me She-Hulk" Charlie said with obvious annoyance in her voice.

Charlotte Fields, or Charlie as she liked to go by, didn't know if she could have a roommate that completely contrasted her personality anymore then Robin already did. Robin was the athlete of the two, bullied other inmates including Charlie and had a squad of follower girls who followed her around. Charlie, while as rebellious and generally un-teachable as Robin, was by no means an athlete. The last time she had played any sport competitively was when she played soccer five years ago. Charlie loathed girls like Robin, so of course she had to share a cell with one! The only things Charlie truly enjoyed were being alone and art. Art was in fact what got Charlie arrest, or more specifically graffiti. Charlie was a master at urban art and had skills paralleled by few at the outlawed art form.

Charlie quickly jumped back into her bed as she brushed her multicolor messy hair out of her eyes. Her hair was a bright blond on one half and a deep dyed black on the other, giving her an odd appearance. Her moss green eyes were darkened by a thick layer of eyeliner that gives her a raccoon like appearance. Grabbing her sketch book which was always close, she starts to draw an image she had dreamt about as she taps on her snake bite piercing on her bottom lip. It was one of many piercings the gothic looking girl had, which included a nose stud and a dozen piercings up her eyes on both sides. Predominantly black or black striped clothes dominated the wardrobe of the slender, big hipped and big breasted girl so the change to wearing the black and white prison garb didn't bother her much.

When Charlie's rick parents saw her start to wear the rebellious clothing that she did, they threw a fit. However, Charlie never really cared what they thought about her clothes and her hobbies. She just didn't want to be their little model prissy daughter anymore. She would rather just keep to herself and draw.

Suddenly the cell doors opened, thirty minutes before they were supposed to. "I wonder what's going on…" Charlie wondered out loud.

"Let's go princess!" Robin said, grabbing Charlie's arm.

"Hey, hands off" Charlie said, slapping Robin's arm away. "What do you want to do?"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that" Robin growled. "However, I don't have time to beat your ass right now. This is the perfect opportunity!"

"For what exactly?" Charlie asked, confused.

"To see if the ghost story is true!" Robin said, more excitedly than usual.

"Seriously?" Charlie asked, holding back the laughter. "You believe the story about the white haired ghost who haunts the prisoners living somewhere in the insane ward? No one believes that story after the first week they're here!"

"Shut up!" Robin said. "You're going to help me so come on".

"It's not like you're making me come or anything" Charlie said as she was dragged out of the room.

"Shut your mouth…" Robin began.

The microphone came on and a boy named Adam Conway seemed to be rallying some sort of escape attempt. "Good, that means the com room should be guard free" Robin said, crouched down outside the door with Charlie following suit. "We just need to wait for Adam to leave".

Sure enough, Adam and another girl Charlie though she recognized left the com room so Robin and Charlie snuck in. "I need you to man that computer and open the door to the insane ward for me" Robin commanded.

"I don't really know the slightest thing about computers honestly" Charlie complained, staring off.

"It can't be that hard you bitch" Robin yelled. "Just do it, ok?"

"Fine…" Charlie muttered as Robin left the room. "I hope you know what you're doing there sidekick".

"Uhh… Denise?" another voice in the room said, startling Charlie.

"Whose there?" Charlie asked.

"Please, help me out here would you…" the man's voice said.

"Wait, you're Murph right?" Charlie asked.

"What's left of him" Murph said chuckling.

On one of the cameras an impatient looking Robin singled for Charlie to open the door.

"Third button down in the middle" Murph muttered.

Charlie pressed the button and the door slowly opened so that Robin could slip in. "Why did you help me?" Charlie asked, looking at the older man in confusion.

"What kind of a jerk would I be if I asked you to help me without returning the favor?" Murph said with a chuckle before a violent cough.

"What do you want me to do?" Charlie asked with a blank look on her pale face.

"You need to enter the codes to put the complex into lockdown" Murph said. "It's bad enough the first floor will be trashed by the mayhem. But if the fighting finds its way down to this floor, inmates who aren't even trying to escape may get hurt".

"Wait, but if I enter the emergency code, won't Robin be looked into the insane ward" Charlie said, her eyes wide with a worry usually uncharacteristic of her.

"Yes, but there is one inmate in the ward who I trust to watch over her for the time being" Murph said with a half-smile. "She's a kind hearted girl with white hair whose hard life caused her insanity".

"Wait, the rumors about the ghost girl are true!" Charlie exclaimed in shock.

"Every word of it" Murph chuckled. "A few times that sly devil has found ways out of the ward and will roam the halls at night. But please, you need to enter that code".

"Ok, but only if I don't get punished for leaving my cell" Charlie murmered.

"That's a deal" Murph said as Charlie sat back down in the computer chair. "The code is Manifest".

With a few key strokes, all the main prison doors besides the cell doors slid to a shut and locked.

"Also, I would truly appreciate it if you unlock me" Murph said with a smile.

"But then you would have to beat me up for being out of my cell" Charlie said. "Why should I help you?"

"What would Scarlet do?" Murph asked.

Scarlet. That's name of the one member Fields family that Charlie loved. She was Charlie's sister, her one true friend and the most selfless person Charlie knew. She was the person Charlie sacrificed herself to save the day she was caught. If it were Scarlet…

Charlie got on her knees and unlocked the man's handcuffs as she cried slowly. "How do you know about her?" Charlie asked, the dark eyeliner mixing with her tears as they ran down her face.

Murph clutch Charlie and hugged her softly, patting her back. "I study the case file of ever inmate in this prison and try to see what the other guards overlook" Murph said softly.

"So, I hear you have a passion for art" Murph said, picking himself and Charlie up. "Can I stop by and see some of your drawings?"

"Sure, when can expect you to stop by my cell?" Charlie asked, donning an uncharacteristic smile.

"I'll stop by right after the bed time lookdown" Murph said. "I already have someone to visit in the morning".

The Insane Ward

"This is super freaky…" Robin said observing her surroundings. "Screw it, I want out".

As Robin walked to the door, an alarm went off and the exit permanently looked.

"That bitch!" Robin howled, thinking this was somehow Charlie's idea of a joke. "When I find her, I'm going to…"

Suddenly something slammed into the cell door behind Robin, scaring the hell out of her. Clamoring back, Robin saw a man with patches of his hair pulled out slamming his body into the bars of the cell. Backing up, Robin didn't realize how close she was to the opposite cell. Something from inside the cell grabbed her long hair and slammed her head back into the cell. Dizzy and being pressed into the cell, Robin screamed in horror as the person in the cell shredded her clothes and pressed his sharp fingernails into her waist so hard they cut into her. Robin screamed even louder as the man licked the back of her neck and his hands ran over her breasts, his fingernails beginning to cut into her skin there.

Robin couldn't concentrate or try to break free, her head still spinning from concussion like symptoms. However, something struck the psychopath's hand and he yelled out in agony as it released its grip. Still dazed, Robin was led along by this strange figure into a cell that was for some reason open. For a strange reason, the cell seemed much more inviting then the others in the ward. Robin sat in the corner, shivering and shaking as her mysterious savior wrap their arms around her. Everything seemed like it would be ok…

Later on

Robin awoke with a start and looked around a foreign cell. Feeling the back of her head where it was hit, she felt it sore. She then remembered the painful fingernails digging into her chest and checked her chest. To her surprise, an inmate's shirt was wrapped around her chest. Looking around the cell, she couldn't see anyone. That was until she looked to her side and was startled to see a girl hugging her tightly. "Ahhh!" Robin screamed, waking up the girl.

"Umm… so you're awake" the mysterious girl said. "Hi" she said with an innocent smile.

"No way…" Robin said, thinking she had found her ghost.

The girl in front of her was deathly pale, with snow white hair and bright unnaturally pink eyes. Only standing at about 4'8", even Robin towered over this petite girl. Painful looking scars lined the girl's visible chest, arms, legs and face. The girl wore no shirt, which explained the shirt wrapped around Robin's chest, and wore a bra which was barely able to hold the girl's unnaturally huge looking C cup breasts.

"Were you the one who helped me earlier?" Robin asked.

"Yes, we saved you" the girl answered, still with a smile.

"Wait… who is we?" Robin asked, looking about concerned. "You have a cellmate? But there's only one bed in this cell…"

"No, Alice saved you" the girl replied.

"So your cellmate's name is Alice?" Robin asked.

"No, I'm Alice and she is also Alice" Alice tried to explain. "We're one and the same".

"So… is this Alice a real person?" Robin asked.

"Hmph… I thought you might be different" Alice said, turning her back to Robin. "Everyone always tries to tell me she's not real, to me she's as real as you are. As a matter a fact, she's sitting right next to you. Say hi to our guest Alice!"

As she said this, Robin could feel the right side of her body shiver, as if something was there but she just couldn't see it. This freaked Robin out a little. "Can you let me out of here please?" Robin asked.

"Aw, I wanted to play a bit longer" Alice said, pouting childishly. "Will you be my friend? I've never had any friends other than Alice".

Robin was puzzled by the notion that this seeming cheerful girl had never had a single friend, well besides the fact she had this creepy doppelganger thing going on. "Sure, I can be your friend" Robin said, with a soft smile back.

"Yay!" Alice blurted out gleefully. "Let's play catch!"

"Do you have a ball or something?" Alice said, looking around the relatively empty room.

"No, but I have this glass" Alice said, her smile growing sinister. "Me and my parents played this game all the time!"

"No, stop!" Robin yelled as she grabbed hold of Alice and made her drop the glass. "Games are about having fun, not hurting someone".

"I'm sorry" Alice said innocently. "All the games my parents ever played with me always hurt me, so I thought that's the way all games are".

"No need to be sorry, you didn't know" Robin said, her eyes getting watery. "Wait, you said your parents did this to you?"

"Yes, I did" Alice said. "My parents used to look me in the basement all day and I would be so lonely. When they got home wasn't much better because all they would do is play games with me like burning me, throwing glass at me, whipping me and other ones too. I was so alone inside until Alice came along. She was someone I could play with during the day and she was my only friend. One night when my parents told me Alice didn't exist, I grabbed glass shards just like this and just kept stabbing them over and over again until they stopped moving and then I stabbed them some more. It was so much fun and Alice even liked it! Then I chopped them up, cooked them and ate them just like I saw my parents do to those weird guests we would have.

Robin's face turned green as she turned and threw up into the next cell over. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that" Robin said teary eyed. "Even if you don't know better, that's not the way a childhood should be".

"Want to hear a secret?" Alice whispered to Robin.

"Sure, is it something good?" Robin asked.

"I love her" Alice said, blushing and looking away.

"You mean the Alice you talk too?" Robin said, finding some solace in the fact Alice's life has one good aspect. "What is she like?"

"She looks almost exactly like me!" Alice said gleefully. "Except she wears a dark purple dress, had matching purple eyes and is so smart and wise. She gives me great advice and she makes me feel so warm when she touches me…"

"Too much information there" Robin said wide eyed. "Do you want to sit in my lap and hear about me for a bit?"

"Sure!" Alice said, running over and throwing herself on top of Robin before sitting down in her lap. The young girl paid attention at first, but then slowly drifted off to sleep with a smile in her face. As she dozed, Robin ran a hand through Alice's hair and over her scarred skin. At that moment Robin decided she would be the friend and parent figure Alice never had. The mean hearted bully finally met someone who could soften that thick exterior of hers.

When Murph came in to fish Robin out, he found the two sitting like this. Murph couldn't help be smile and get teary eyed a bit. It was arranged with Murph's help that Alice and Robin could spend some of each day's free time with each other. In addition, for Charlie's help, Murph got both Robin and Charlie honorary access cards to the roof athletic area which was a privilege usually reserved for only the top 25 inmate students in grades.

Later that afternoon

"Did I ever mention I loved you girl?" Robin said jokingly as she stared in awe at her access card while Charlie pulls on a black bikini. "I can do my workouts out in the sunlight and fresh air now!"

"It's all about the workouts with you…" Charlie said with a sigh. "At least I won't need to get off the floor next time. What's with that pack of rock candy on your desk?"

"I got it for Alice the next time I visit her" Robin said as she tried to straighten what was left of her hair. "A guard told me she really likes candy".

"Aw, tough old Robin has a soft spot for the innocent girls" Charlie said, taunting her roommate.

"Oh shut up you bitch!" Robin said, playfully punching Charlie as the two laughed.

"Hey you better hurry up and change" Charlie said. "Lockdown is in two hours and you and I both need to tan some".

Robin and Charlie walked down the hall to the stairs as the guys who wandered about stopped in their track to eye them over when they crossed paths.

"Hey Robin" a girl amongst a larger group said after catching up to the two. "Ew, what are you doing hanging with her? Spend more time with your fans!"

"First of she's my roommate. But she's also one of my good friends" Robin said as she pulled in Charlie close and smiled mischievously at her now former followers. "Get lost you ugly bitches!"

With that, Robin and Charlie proceeded up the stairs to the roof, laughing the whole way…

What a chapter! What did you guys think of the new characters Alice and Charlie? How about Robin, who appeared briefly last chapter?

Now on to today's possibly controversial top 10 list, Lazersword88's top ten H.O.T.D. SYOC stories. Let's first lay down a few ground rules before we start the list. Nothing that I've worked on since I don't want to be an egomaniac, however I do think one or both of my fics would make this list if included. I'm also not including any fics I have co-authored. Each story must include and center around fan made characters, not directly around the main anime group. Also, since a ton of stories start off with a strong chapter or two and are never updated again, each pick must have at least 3 chapters. Take in mind this is my personal opinion and that I've been a member on this site since November of last year, so if there is some amazing completed story I don't remember or haven't seen then please let me know about it.

Alright, here we go!

#10: High School of the Dead: surviving the apocolypse (yes that is misspelled in the title) by SSJ5 Kiezen-

This otherwise mediocre and short lived SYOC is memorable to me for a few reasons. It was the first High School of the Dead SYOC I ever read and the first one I ever submitted a character for. My first and most widespread OC Phil Angelo owes his origins to this story. Also, the good and the flaws of this 6 chapter long romp through an average Japanese High School inspired me to try my hand at writing in order to show it could be done better than that. In addition, the entire cast of the fic (Phil Angelo, Rikio, Hiroshi, Alice While, Aito Hakagame, Korina Adachi and Ikki Adachi) all were lent to me by their respective authors and live on today in my other story, Dancing through Flames. Man, a lot has changed since then…

#9: Let's Survive (Evolution Neya)- While otherwise just another SYOC set in Japan, this story which chronicles a girl named Neya and her classmates trying to survive the Z-day is very strong in conversation and inter character relationships. None of the characters ever feel like they are there just to be killing machines and those characters that have been covered more in depth are interesting, likeable and somewhat realistic sounding. This helps this story still in its early stage nudge out other such stories from the list.

#8: Day of the DAMMED (EpicEric17)- This action heavy SYOC is the heaviest hitter of the newest wave of SYOC's. Interesting characters and a blindingly fast pace help this recent story ahead of its peers. The environment of the school also adds to the freshness of the story. Set in a private boarding school, this setting will at the very least keep the story entertaining until they leave.

#7: Instinct (MikiMoke)- A recent update of this long dormant story finally gives it the three chapters it needs to be on this list. This story's strongest aspect is the wide variety of characters from all walks of life that are included, since the story is only partially set in the high school. If this story is updated more regularly, it could have a strong future.

#6: Unholy Uprising (Awesomestprime8)- This story takes the title of most blown potential. After having her last story undeservedly ruin, Awesomest began work on this story, which was primed to be better than her previous work in every way. The best of the old cast was returning, the setting was refreshing and the main OC wasn't too cliché. However, the story came to an abrupt halt for unknown reasons. While Awesomest insists the story is still in the works, I think it's best to appreciate the very well written first three chapters of this unfinished story.

#5: Paint Them Red (Gravity Push)- Paint them Red introduces a cool concept by having two major factions represented in the story, one of super human experiments and the other of normal humans. The story is well written and has a diverse variety of solid characters. Also, unlike some of the stories on this list, this one is set to be updated regularly over the coming months.

#4: We Must Survive OC Story (rexen tsukino)- This story had one of the best openings in the genre with spot on characterization, interesting characters and was well written. Not much bad to say about this story. However, recent updates have lost some of their inspiration and the second wave of added OCs for the most part was a mistake. Though it is still being updated, it's not where it used to be.

#3: I'll buy my way to talk to god ( )- This story is an underrated gem and the dark horse of the H.O.T.D. genre. On the outside it may appear as just another romp through an infected high school, but that would be missing the huge point. This story has some of the best characterization I've read in the genre. Every character is different, unique, plot important and awesome or likable in their own way. The dialogue is written masterfully and the story moves at a solid pace. This story is set to continue when the author finds the time, so I'll be waiting patiently.

#2: DOA (Death of All) (Awesomestprime8)- This story was the king of the genre earlier this year before someone reported it and made it lose all its reviews. However the report was undeserved as DOA was one of the first great HOTD stories I read. A solid number of unique characters, epic switch POV between multiple groups and dynamic character relations helped this story become super popular in its day. While no longer being edited, story protagonist Casper Tapely lives on in my story Dancing through Flames.

#1: Bloodstained World (Keeper of Armageddon/Fallen)- Was there any ever question? Everything in this story is spot on. The underlying story is great, the second arc is turning out to be even better than the first and this story managed to do the impossible, have a second wave of OCs be as great as the first. A dynamic, changing world and a mystery surrounding Mark keeps this story super fresh. Way to go Keeps!

Alright, that's it for me. Please review and PM! Lazersword88, falling asleep…


	8. Chapter 4: Tension

Hello there everyone! Lazersword88, here with more Dead Delinquents. I have one major announcement to make before getting straight into this chapter. Very soon after publishing this chapter, a poll will come up on my author page. Just click my name next to this story's title to follow the link there. Once on my page, please take the time to vote on which one of the five story concepts I plan on writing next you want to see. More details will be available once you see the voting choices. Part of why I write is to give the readers what they want and by asking you which of my ideas to write after I complete this story (which may not be until next year), I feel like I am accomplishing that goal. Don't worry, none of these ideas have ever been seen before in other stories on this site.

If you have not already, then I highly urge you to check out my other active H.O.T.D. SYOC Dancing through Flames. It is a bit less realistic then this story, but I can write in a completely different way there as opposed to this story. Dancing is the older of my two stories, so the beginning might be a bit different considering that was when I first started writing. However if you get caught up I'm sure you'll find it just as good as this story. Additionally, Dancing through Flames is almost to 200 reviews and I'd really appreciate if you guys helped me hit that benchmark. *As of this update Dancing through Flames has reached 200 views. However, I would still like you support. My next goal is to reach 284, which would make Dancing through Flames the most reviewed SYOC for H.O.T.D.*

Speaking of reviews and benchmarks, thank you for the outstanding support of this story! I really appreciate the user feedback! You guys are awesome. If we could get this story over 100 reviews too it would mean the world to me. If we hit 100 reviews, Z day will be next chapter and the last few character introductions will happen during the apocalypse.

Now, since this is relevant to this chapter, I'd like to discuss my view on lemons (or sex scenes if you're unfamiliar with this site's lingo). I'm not afraid to explore character's sexuality and fears that have to do with sex. I'm also not afraid to perverted behavior and push the boundaries to a point. However, you will never read a lemon in my story. I think that authors who rely on lemons for views are doing it wrong. Sexually awkward, sexually violent and character sexuality is something that a good author can artfully explore and use to enhance the story's characters. I will never have a lemon, but that's not to say I won't come close sometimes if it helps to progress the story.

Other than that, enjoy meeting the next two characters on the roster! More of the already introduced characters will begin to appear in the updates now that I've introduced a good number. Remember to leave a review with your thoughts. Now sit back and relax…

Many years before…

A young boy sat happily in the back of an old dilapidated car as it barely managed to rumble along a poorly maintained dirt road. It was just another day for this seemingly normal impoverished Transylvanian family. The boy sat in the back seat, while his father watched the road while yawning a bit and his mother was talking to his older brother. This was a big day for the family, as it was the older brother's first day working for the factory like his parents. The younger brother rode along with the family to commemorate the big day. Everything was going well for the small family…

Suddenly, the car hit a bump in the road. Jolting to attention and overcompensating his steering, the father attempted to keep the car on the road. However car met heavier car as a truck going the other way slammed into the family's car. Their parent's blood soaked the two boys as the car sprang back and to the side, wandering dangerously close to a sheer cliff. Smashing through the primitive rotted wood guard rails, the car began to plummet downward. The young boy began to cry out in fear as the boys fell to their death. However in the last few seconds before impact, the older brother gripped the younger's trembling hand and give him a soft yet confident smile. The car then slammed into the ground…

Present day 3PM Prison Classroom

A sleeping teen's dark green eyes shot open and his breathing was heavy.

"Kalman, since my lecture is so entertaining to you, how about you answer this question" the history teacher droned. "What was Abraham Lincoln's impact on the civil war?"

Kalman pretended he didn't understand due to being a foreigner. However the teacher wasn't buying it. "Feel like being a smartass?" the teacher said, right in Kalman's face. "You will have a twenty page written paper in my hands tomorrow morning answer my question. How does that make you feel, you stupid piece of shit?"

Kalman still didn't answer. "Guard, take him away" the teacher said to a muscular uniformed man in the back of the room.

The man walked behind Kalman and slammed his head viciously against the cheap grey desk. Each student had both of their hands handcuffed together and a foot chained to their desk, which was bolted to the ground. Along with this, a Taser like device was placed on each inmate's neck for the teacher's safety. When each student arrived to the classroom, the guards would chain their hands, legs and put the device on their neck. Not paying attention or violent behavior would be severely and violently punished.

The teachers weren't allowed to use the shock devices unless it was an emergency. However, the prison managers turned a blind eye on some of the teachers who used the shock devices for alternative means. It doesn't take most prisoners long to see around the lies surrounding the prison's goal. All the prison cares about is having the inmates deemed ready to assimilate back into society after their stay. Whether that happened by the prison's advertised means or by alternative ones was of no consequence to some of the teachers. The prison scrapped the bottom of the barrel when it came to hiring teachers, and in the process had hired some oddballs, such as this history professor. He would shock anyone who answered a question wrong or refused any of his requests, no matter how inappropriate they were. It was obvious that the guards in his classroom had been paid off to not take any actions to stop the corrupt teacher

Kalman Becskei, or Beck as the other inmates called him, was pressed into the desk as his long black hair sprawled across his olive skin toned face. His chain around his leg was removed and he was forcefully shoved to the door of the classroom. "Take him to Murphy's office" a guard in the back of the room said to the one shoving Kalman out.

Murph was sitting at his desk, typing some document he really didn't want to be typing. He'd much rather be getting to know the inmates better, but even he had paperwork he had to keep up with. Suddenly, his door was violently opened and Beck was shoved in before the other guard slammed the door again.

"So tell me son, why are you here?" Murph said, still finishing his typing.

Beck just stared back at Murph blankly and pretended not to understand as Murph sighed. "Look Beck, you and I both know you can speak English at least semi-fluently" Murph said. "So how about we drop the act and get to what the problem is".

"Why does any of this matter?" Beck said smugly.

"This matters because I'm trying to help you grow up so you can leave this place when the time comes" Murph said sternly.

"None of that even matters though" Beck said. "All life is decided by is a bunch of coin flips in the background, not by any divine fate or plan. Why does what we do even matter when we have no control over our actions. Moral responsibility is just a sham in my mind".

"Listen… you have to open up to advice if you ever want to grow" Murph said.

Beck pulled an antique coin out of his pocket and flipped it.

"What are you doing?" Murph asked.

"I'm letting fate decide this, just like it decides everything else" Beck said, looking at the coin's result. "It looks like fate wants me to ignore you. Good luck outrunning your fate Mr. Murphy" Beck said as he casually walked out of the room after Murph begrudgingly removed the shackles around his hands.

"What are we going to do with him?" Murph asked himself, pitying the boy slightly.

Murph thought about what he knew of the boy. Born in the undeveloped part of the world to a normal family, Beck would be just a normal kid his had tragedy not befallen him. By some sort of miracle, Beck was the only one to survive that crash that claimed the lives of his family and should have claimed his as well. Psychological tests conducted by the prison when he was first assigned here showed that he feels survivor's guilt and blames his family's death on himself. However, he would never openly admit that to anyone.

Beck was then taken in by his uncle, who happened to be a person of high international interest. A smuggler and one of the largest weapon dealers to terrorist cults in Europe, Beck's uncle was a wanted man despite Beck not knowing beforehand. Beck went along peacefully working for his uncle's ploy business used to cover his real dealings until one day Beck discovered his uncle's secret and was asked to join the fold.

Murph still finds it hard to believe a boy of fourteen years was put into such a situation. Beck had to choose between becoming a criminal or running away only to most likely starve. Most of the inmates held in this juvenile prisoner were held here because they choose to commit crimes. However Beck had no choice, since it was either steal or die.

Beck went on to be inducted into his uncle's guild and performed many very difficult smugglings. Beck was caught when a NATO squad that was sent to capture his uncle ambushed his group on a mission. It was later found out that a member of the guild had ratted out Beck to get rid of him. Since then, Beck seems to equate ones fate and destiny strictly to chance.

Back in the History Classroom

"So, will anyone tell me what Lincoln's impact on the revolutionary war was?" the teacher asked again, his hand hovering over the controller of the shock collars as a hand went up.

"He was the president at the time" Denise answered before writing more notes from the board in her notebook. Denise was one of the few who actually paid attention in this class.

"Very good" the teacher said with a sinister chuckle as he approached Denise's desk. "And what was the name of Lincoln's famous speech?"

"The Gettysburg Address… what are you doing?" Denise asked in fear is she felt the teachers cold touch on her shoulders.

"Carry on" the teacher said, a look of perversion gracing his features as his hands slowly slid closer to Denise's bust.

"Don't touch me, you creep!" Denise says, smacking the man away with her handcuffed hands.

The teacher fell to the ground and rose again slowly. "You broke my jaw you bitch!" he yells as he pressed a button on his remote.

An intense voltage coursed its way through Denise as she shrieked in pain. The seconds of shock felt like minutes as her insides burned and body twitched about violently. When the pain stopped, Denise was slouched back with her longer black hair covering her face.

"Let's see if you'll be more cooperative now" the teacher said, with blood trickling out of his mouth as he smiled menacingly. "Just let me have my way and I'm sure you'll enjoy it".

As the teacher reached out to touch Denise again, she suddenly turned around and plunged her teeth deep in his arm. As the teacher screamed in pain, the guard in the back of the room ripped her out of the teachers arm and punched her hard in the face.

"Ah… you will pay for this you bitch!" the teacher screamed, turning up the voltage as high as it would go and selecting Denise again.

Denise howled in pain the first few seconds, but then went completely limp after a few seconds. Charlie looked on at the horrifying ordeal Denise was experiencing and made a desperate plea to the teacher. "If you don't stop you'll kill her!" Charlie cried out, unintentionally knocking her sketchbook off of her desk in the process.

"Shut up" the teacher said, punching Charlie hard in the head as she went limp over her seat too. "Guard, unlock the chains on Denise".

"That's against the rules sir…" the guard tried to say.

"I don't care" the teacher said. "Her body will pay me back for what she's done to my arm. Do you want to get your 'bonus' or not?"

The guard sighed and complied, unlocking Denise's arms and leg. The teacher picked up Denise's limp body and carried her over his shoulder towards the classroom door.

Ai's mind raced. Why should she care about what happened to Denise? Denise exemplified everything she hated about the other inmates. She was way too happy emotional, was nothing like her, tried in her classes and was a kiss up to the Murph jerk. But Ai couldn't help of thinking of the time that she was almost raped.

It was back when her adoptive father Sam was alive. Ai was on her way back from one of her days as a black market courier when she was grabbed on her way back to the alley she and Sam slept in. A thug held a knife to her head and started to feel around her body. Ai tried to yell out for help, but the thug covered her mouth and started to slip fingers down her throat. The small girl would have vomited if she was actually eating anything. The thug tore off her clothes and made her feel violated. Just when Ai was about to give up hope, Sam ran into the alley. Taking the thug's knife by force, he stabbed the man repeatedly until he was limp and unmoving. Sam gave Ai his jacket to cover up before going to stores to buy Ai new clothes with the money he was supposed to use to eat. Ai cried in Sam's arms that whole night as her adoptive father tried to comfort her. While she was forever grateful to Sam for everything he did, that experience forever perverted the touch of all men to her.

Despite her dislike for Denise, she couldn't stand watching the same experience happen to her too. Ai slowly moved her desk over closer to an alarm on the wall that would call another officer into the room. In one final move to hit the alarm, Ai tipped her desk over and hit the button before crashing to the ground.

Finally catching on to her sudden movements and their purpose, the teacher dropped Denise and ran to her with fury in his eyes. "You're as good as good as dead!"

The shock coursed through Ai now, who screamed out as tears streamed down her face. She glanced and reached out for Adam, who was across the classroom.

"This is all your fault you stupid bitch!" the teacher said, now stomping on Ai's now limp body as she barely mustered screams of pain.

Adam cringed at the sight before, as each stomp on his friend was equally painful to him.

Suddenly the door barged open and Murph walked in, handgun in hand. His look of surprise at first was quickly replaced by one of complete anger. "Drop the fucking remote you criminal" Murph said. "If you surrender now, I'll spare you worthless life. However I wouldn't mind popping a cap in your worthless as, you god damn child molester!"

"If you make one more move, every one of the students in this classroom will be shocked until they die" the teacher said as the guard in the back of the room raised his gun at Murph.

"You're in no place to negotiate with me!" Murph yelled, with a look of uncharacteristic diehard seriousness on his face. "You have five seconds to drop that remote".

Murph's eyes glanced around the classroom at the inmate's eyes full of fear. Murph's eyes met the driven eyes of Adam and Adam nodded his head before moving his chained foot into clearer view of the aisle in-between the desks. Murph understood the signal and looked back to the teacher.

"5…4…3…2…" Murph counted down.

At 2 Murph fired a shot. The shot hit the chain holding Adam to the desk. Turning, Murph fired two shots that both struck the teachers arm. The first tore through his arm and the second ripped his hand clean off his forearm as blood spilled out of his wound.

The guard in the back lined up his sites to gun down Murph, but Adam tackled him and knocked him to the ground. Adam started by ripping the gun away from the guard and then proceeded to repeatedly pummel his face with jab after jab until he was limp.

The handless teacher crawled away from Murph down the aisle, screaming in pain as he left a trail of blood behind him. Murph walked slowly behind him and pointed the gun to his head. "You're… not allowed to hurt teachers" the teacher said cowering against the back wall. "They'll know it wasn't accident and you'll get fired".

"Well I guess my finer must have slipped" Murph said, before rapidly unloading three more shots in the teachers head as he collapsed in a bloody pile. "Opps."

Grabbing the key from the guards pocket, Murph turned to the class and wiped the blood off his face. "You're free to go" he said as he unlocked each inmate from their desk. "You should return to your rooms and get a fresh set of prison garb".

As the students hurriedly exited the room, Murph walked up to Adam who was making sure Ai was ok. "She's the one who hit the button, right?" Murph asked after noting her location in the room. "Thanks for helping Adam".

Adam turned to the dark skinned officer and brushed his black hair over his eye again. "I didn't help because I'm some kind of do-gooder" Adam said as Ai started to regain consciousness in his arms. "I did it because they were going to hurt her. Don't expect any help from me again".

"I think you're more of a good guy then you let on" Murph said to Adam as he was carrying Ai on his back out of the classroom.

"I think you're crazy old man" Adam said, stepping out of the room before stepping slightly back in again. "And… um, I can't believe I'm saying this to a guard, but thank you" Adam said before hurrying off.

Next Murph walked over to Charlie who was just regaining consciousness. "You ok?" Murph asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Charlie said, looking a bit dizzy. "My head is spinning though. But what the hell happened to you" Charlie said, noticing the blood on Murph.

"The teacher crossed the line and needed to be dealt with" Murph said as Charlie noticed the teacher's corpse on the floor, surprise gracing her features. "Are you ok to walk back to your cell?"

"Yeah, I should be fine" Charlie said, being helped up by Murph. "Are we still having our chat time tonight?"

"Sure thing" Murph said as Charlie walked out.

Murph walked over to Denise who was still shaking on the ground as tears ran down her pale face. Denise tried to open her mouth to speak but didn't have the strength to.

"Jesus… I'm sorry this had to happen to you" Murph said, propping Denise's body against the wall and sitting down next to her. "I should have drawn the line with him earlier…"

Denise hugged the larger man now that her feeling was coming back. Her head was buried into his chest as Murph felt his shirt around his stomach getting damp. "I've got you…" Murph said soothingly as he rubbed her back, as he thought about how much Denise mattered to him now…

Male Cell Block A few hours later

Beck flopped back down in his bed and stared off at nothing. "This is such a drag" he muttered to himself, brushing his long black hair out of his face.

Suddenly a spiky blond haired boy of about average height and build sprang into the room with a wide smile gracing his face. "Guess what I stole today Beck?" the boy said.

"Stop trying to show off Reiss" Beck said. "You're half the thief I am".

"Don't be so sure" the blue eyed Reiss bragged. "Look at this!"

Reiss pulled a massive bra out of his pocket. "What did you get that for yourself?" Beck joked dryly. "It might be big enough to contain half your ego".

"Shut up!" Reiss shouted. "It took me hours to get a hold of it".

"So which girl is going to come for you and beat you up?" Beck asked.

"Some girl named Alexandria Nightfall" David Reiss said. "She's too dense to suspect anything".

"You're pretty pathetic, you know that?" Beck said.

"Why is that, mister sit around on your bed all day?" Reiss retorted.

"You're pathetic because you're no real thief" Beck said.

"I'll have you know I've coordinated over a dozen bank robberies" Reiss said.

"But you steal for the sport, while I steal out of necessity" Beck snarled. "People like you make me sick".

"How about this Mr. master thief" Reiss said, getting in Beck's face. "Whoever steals the most valuable object by lockdown wins. This will prove my superiority over lazy bones like you".

"Fair enough" Beck said, getting up and walking out. "I hope you like to lose".

Reiss wandered up to the cafeteria, where dinner was being served. He eyed everyone around him, looking for something of value. He finally found his target, a gold chain worn by a guy named Axia. He blended into the crowd of people in line and slowly made his way towards his target. Lurking behind Axia, Reiss ripped the necklace of his neck and bolted back into the line.

"Give that back!" Axia screamed as he punched blindly behind him to where he thought the thief was. The punch connected, and a stocky brown haired girl's dinner spilled onto the floor. Robin howled in rage as Axia stared on in disbelief.

"You're as good as dead!" Robin howled.

Robin swung and caught Axia with a hard right hand, sending him to the floor. Diving on top of him, she repeatedly bashed his face until someone pulled her off and flung her to the ground.

"Hands off" Ichihiki said, without sound like he cared too much.

"Do you want to get your ass kicked too?!" Robin yelled as a crowd gathered in the cafeteria around them.

"You can try…" Ichihiki muttered.

Reiss left the cafeteria in undetected as Ichihiki and Robin began to clash. He smiled as he looked at the valuable item he had stolen…

Elsewhere…

Beck wandered through the halls, bored out of his mind.

"I wish there was something worth taking around here…" Beck muttered as he brushed his black hair out of his eyes again.

"So you're Beck, right?" a voice said behind Beck that would make most jump in alarm but seemed to not phase Beck.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Beck asked, turning around to see a leather wearing blond officer with sunglasses.

"The names Laz" Laz said as Beck looked shocked. "It's been a long time, younger brother…"

Girl's block

Ai woke up in her bed on the upper bunk of the cell with a start. She breathed heavily at first before getting her bearings again. She looked at the clock in the cell and saw that it was currently night time and lookdown hours, meaning she couldn't leave the cell. Ai thought for a moment about how crazy the past few days have been, between the escape attempt and what happened to Denise…

Ai noticed a whimpering sound in the background. Peering down to the bottom bunk, she saw her roommate was had her arms wrapped around her chest and was sobbing into a pillow. Ai thought about how God awful thing that happened to Denise today. Ai knew the kind of trauma an event like that could cause. When this trauma befell Ai, Sam was there to hold her. But who was there to hold Denise?

Ai slid out from under her covers and jumped off of her bunk. "I'm sorry if I'm keeping you awake" Denise said in-between sobs.

"It's fine, I was wide awake anyway" Ai said.

Without any words, Ai crawled onto the bed with Denise and wrapped her arms around her. Denise's eyes lit up in shock only for a moment before returning to a peaceful expression as Ai rubbed her back.

"It's ok, I know" Ai said with a small smile gracing her lips.

Eventually Denise stopped crying and the girls fell asleep with their arms around each other. Denise was just happy she had someone she could hold onto.

Who won between Ichihiki and Robin (my money is on Robin)? Is Axia badly hurt? Will that affect him during Z-day? How will the other teachers, staff and guards react to Murph killing a teacher? Did the teacher deserve it (yes)? Will we see a Denise and Ai pairing? Will I get hate for it if I do? Do I care? Is Laz Beck's older brother or is he just playing mind games? What will become of that exchange?

Hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a nice review for me so I can reach 100!

Instead of the top ten this time, make sure to o find my poll on my page and vote on which story you would like to see next. Lazersword88, signing out!


	9. Chapter 5: Saints and Sinners

Hello everyone! Lazersword88 back with more Dead Delinquents at long last! Please read the whole intro as it has important information pertaining to the future of this story and all my projects. Sorry the wait has been so long (about a month if I'm not mistaken). The last month has had a lot happening in my life, including a vacation, the end of my summer session, a death in the family and the start of my second year at college. I hope you guys understand why I can't be updating every day.

Now on to some story schedule related topics that I feel should be discussed. I plan on updating this story about once a month up until December where I'll be picking up the pace again. I plan on doing 2-3K word chapters to introduce the remaining 10 characters that I want to introduce before I unleash zombies into the story. I'll do two updates this month since I've not updated in so long, so expect to see another update sometime later this month.

I will real start to crank out chapters of my other story, Dancing Through Flames, since I've had the storyboard made for that story for a long time and just feel like completing it all the way. Please support that story if you are not already since I have a goal to make that story the most reviewed OC story for HighSchool of the Dead of all time (by my count I only need 71 more reviews). I'd really appreciate it the following. I plan on releasing 1-3 chapters a month of that story while I develop the characters for this story.

Come winter and spring time I will be completely finished with DTF, so this story will become my number one focus. Expect to see 2-3 updates per month if all goes according to plan (which it never does let's be real).

I've come to the realization that with all I have going on in my life right now, I'm a one story author at best. That's one thing I would recommend to any of you aspiring authors out there. Always finish a project before you start another one. I guess that's a good life lesson too.

After I'm done with this story I will begin my next one, which is being decided right now in the poll I have up on my page. I would estimate the release of that story will be late spring/summer 2014.

In order to not burn out from writing about the same stories and characters, I plan to start a small sub-series that I'll call One-shot Wednesdays. On the third Wednesday of a given month I will post a short 1-2K word one shot. The first one-shot will be a hilarious H.O.T.D concept inspired by one of my floor mates at school and every one after will be inspired by you, the reader.

So tell me, what one shots should I do? I'll take request's for any series and concept, no matter how ridiculous (as long as it is appropriate). Feel free to PM me ideas for what one shots I should write and I'll order write them in order of personal preference, given I accept them of course.

Alright, into the story we go…

Z-day, Early Morning

A slender girl with bright hazel eyes awoke from her sleep feeling completely rejuvenated. Brushing her medium length auburn hair out of her face and behind her back where it belonged, she sat up and got out of bed before putting on a clean albeit plain prison uniform. She politely covers a yawn with her small soft hands and sat down in the chair at the desk to continuing doing her homework. Even if she was innocent of the crime that kept her here, that didn't mean she couldn't learn some. However a shocking revelation came over the girl as she turned to the bunk bed. Where was Cassie?

*Warning: Borderline lemons ahead a.k.a. almost any scene with Cassie Porter. PG13+ Material ahead*

Boy's Block

"Aw yeah Reiss, do you like that?" Cassie Porter asked, rubbing her body all over Reiss under the sheets of his top bunk bed.

"Please, no more… let me sleep…" Reiss mumbled, but his voice was muffled when Cassie pressed her breasts into his face, with a bra on of course.

"Aw come on Reiss, we've already gone 6 times tonight" Cassie said, licking her tongue along his ear. "What's one more time for my favorite friend with benefits?"

"Just let me sleep, dammit" Reiss said, his bloodshot eyes showing strain from fatigue as he rolled over to reveal his shirtless back".

"Come on Reissy poo!" Cassie said, glomping and straddling Reiss with all her might. "I need to go again!"

"Maybe… another time…" Reiss said before falling asleep.

"Hmph, you never make me feel good anyway" Cassie said, pouting.

Climbing down from Reiss' top bunk, Cassie eyed Beck, the boy who roomed with Reiss. "He should be good for about an hour of excitement…" Cassie snickered, slowly inching her way into bed next to Beck as her blush rose.

"What are you doing…" Beck tried to yell after being jolted awake at the site of a bright green eyed and blond haired girl he didn't know, but was silenced by a sudden violent kiss and having the girl seemingly shove her tongue in his mouth.

Beck tried to force the girl off, but she clamped on to him with an almost vice like grip as she continued to suck on his face.

"I hope I'm turning you on…" Cassie said with a naughty giggle and smile as she pressed her C-cup breasts into Beck's face and snaked her head around to lick and nibble on his ear.

"You're in for a real show…" Cassie said, now straddling his crotch on top of him and rubbing her own against his. "Come on, touch them" Cassie said, grabbing Beck's hands and placing them on her breasts.

"I like these odds" Beck smirked while blushing a bit.

"Oh, you're about to hit the jackpot" Cassie mumbled, about to take off her bra.

"Oh my God Cassie!" the girl from before screamed, her face turning bright red.

"Oh shit!" Cassie said, trying to cover herself up quickly with beck's bedding.

*End of mild lemon*

Back in their room

"So why were you in that boy's room?" the girl auburn hair asked.

"You mean you really don't know Ariana?" Cassie asked with a frown.

"No, I don't know…" Ariana said timidly and innocently.

"Of course you wouldn't know" Cassie bragged. "You're not as wonderful and desirable as the great Cassie Porter.

"Are you bragging about yourself?" Ariana asked quietly.

"No, I'm totally not" Cassie said sarcastically.

"Were you… like…you know… doing it?" Ariana asked tentatively.

"Of course I was!" Cassie said. "What are you, five?"

"Cassie, that's disgusting!" Ariana squealed. "You're not supposed to do that kind of stuff until marriage!"

"Did someone tell you that nonsense?" Cassie laughed. "Of course they would to an idiot like you. And call it what it is, sex".

"That's not a word you use around anyone other than your husband!" Ariana protested. "I'm ashamed to be your friend right now…"

"Oh you don't even know what you're missing" cassie started before a mischievous smile came to his face. "Why don't I show you how good it is…"

"Cassie… what are you doing?" Ariana protested before violently being forced into a chair.

"I'm about to make you feel really good" Cassie said, whispering into Ariana's ear before licking all around it.

"Cassie… please stop" Ariana protested.

"Why stop, we're just getting started!" Cassis said before plunging her lips onto Ariana's and her tongue into Ariana's mouth.

Ariana moaned loudly in protest but Cassie had her pinned. Cassie then reached between Ariana's legs and started to rub. However, Ariana went limp out of nowhere and collapsed into the chair.

"Oh my God, Ariana are you ok?" Cassie asked with genuine concern on her face.

However, Ariana quickly sprang to life and slapped Cassie so hard in the face that she collapsed of the chair and onto her back on the ground.

"No bitch, I'd be worried if you were ok" Ariana said, pressing the heel of her shoe into Cassie's throat as the latter struggled to breath. "If you dare touch me again, I won't hesitate to watch you as you choke to death with my heel on my throat".

After a few seconds, Ariana went limp again and feel right on top of Cassie who was coughing and struggling for air. After a few seconds, Ariana became conscious again and turned to Cassie confusedly.

"What just happened?" Ariana asked. "Wait… get away from me!"

A little while later

Cassie walked down the cell blocks alone. There was still some time before classes for the day would begin. She thought about what had happened between her and Ariana. The way Ariana had acted in that moment was completely out of character for her. Cassie had always wondered why a seemingly good little girl like Ariana had wound up in juvy, but now she may have a theory as to why. Still though, it didn't make sense for her to act like that.

Cassie walked into the boys block again and was greeted with a smile from one of the guards.

"Hey there hot spot!" the overweight guard said with a sly smile.

"Hey their cutie" Cassie said before getting on her toes and making out with him for a minute or two. "You have anything for me?"

"I sure do" the guard said.

"How many this time?" Cassie asked, giving him a perverted smile and whipping her blond ponytail behind her.

"500 fan mail letters and a couple dozen pictures from fans" the guard replied.

Cassie, as many of the inmates and guards were aware, is a sex addict. She just can't seem to ever get enough of it. Over her years at her high school, the number of boyfriends and girlfriends that she has had numbers in the hundreds. However there was one boy that she wanted to keep, but he wouldn't stay committed to her. Being the bratty and selfish girl that she is, Cassie threw a huge party that over 1000 students from her school attended. There she was able to get it on with the one she wanted and send pictures of the hookup to the guy's girlfriend at the time. However, the massive party was busted by the police and raunchy pictures of Cassie and the guy leaked all over the school and on to the internet. Both the illegal drugs at the party and the child pornography she produced were both reasons why she landed in this juvenile prison. However, she does get the most mail of any inmate in the facility by a factor of about 100.

"You're still ready for the 'special meeting' you said you'd have with all the guards at 1 right?" the guard said grinning.

"You know I am always ready to be 'punished' by you guys" Cassie said seductively.

"That's why you're our favorite inmate!" the guard said as she walked away.

Cassie walked further into the boys block, looking for something or someone to do. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Axia in his room.

"Oh hey there big boy…" Cassie said, tackling Axia into his bed.

"Damn girl, you sure drop that thun thun thun so well" Axia said, almost cooing in pleasure. "Yo Ichihiki, you want in on this?"

"No thanks, I'm going to grab some breakfast and study" Ichihiki said, with a large black eye from his fight with Robin the day before.

"Aw come on man, I know you want a piece of this action" Axia said.

"I'd personally like to find true love and happiness then to hit up some sleaze" Ichihiki said, covering his black eye with a mop of his black hair before walking out of the cell quarters.

"Forget about him, because we're going to have some fun" Cassie said, whispering into Axia's ear before proceeding to lick it.

"Oh this is going to be fabulous!" Axia howled as he pulled the sheets over himself and the girl in bed with him.

Girl's cell block

Denise woke peacefully and looked at the girl lying on top of her. Ai slept peacefully, her hear resting on Denise's breast almost like a pillow as her long black hair cascaded across Denise's chest.

"Time to wake up sleepy head…" Denise whispered to the girl.

"Sam…?" Ai whispered before awaking and looking into Denise's eyes. "No it's you. But it felt the same…"

"Thanks for helping me feel better last night" Denise said, wrapping her arms around the girl smaller then herself and holding her close.

"No, thank you" Ai said. "You know, before last night I've been feeling really alone…"

"Why?" Denise asked. "I thought you and Adam were really close".

"He's my best friend, and I really do care about him" Ai started. "But I feel bad because I know he cares about me, but I'll never love him back for it".

"There are many kinds of love Ai" Denise tried to explain. "You can love him like he's family".

"Family…" Ai says, starting to tear up.

"Are you ok?" Denise asks.

"I can't think about my family without thinking of my sister" Ai said. "I failed to provide for her when she needed it most. And my desperation and failure landed me here so now I can never help her…"

"Easy there…" Denise said, rubbing Ai's back as she cried into her chest.

"I just want someone to understand the pain I feel… and to not treat me like a criminal or garbage…" Ai whimpered.

"As long as I'm here, you can always lean on me" Denise said with a warming smile. "I'll never judge you. I don't even remember who I was before I was sent here".

Denise and Ai's eyes met and after staring each other in the eyes for a moment their lips locked. Time seemed to slow down around them as they kissed passionately and held each other close. There was nowhere either would rather be…

Suddenly, a name and a voice came into Denise's mind and her eyes opened violently. Ending the kiss, Denise breathed heavily and looked Ai in the eyes.

"Are you ok?" Ai asked worriedly.

"I think I just remembered something…" Denise said.

"Wait, what did you remember?" Ai asked inquisitively, still lying next to Denise.

"Just a voice and a name of someone who might have been important to me before I suffered from my amnesia" Denise replied.

"What was the name?" Ai asked.

"The name was… Bradley…"

Cafeteria, Breakfast is served

Ariana sat at a table alone at a table, picking at her breakfast when she was greeted by a warm smile.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Charlie asked, wearing a black beanie hat and carrying her sketchbook with her.

"No, I don't" Ariana answered quietly.

The two sat in silence for a little bit as Charlie drew. "So… what's your name?" Charlie asked, peaking at the quiet girl from behind her book.

"I'm Ariana" the auburn hair girl replied. "You're Charlie right?"

"Yeah, how do you know me?" Charlie responded.

"Murph is always gushing about your art" Ariana replied with a giggle. "It's almost like you're a daughter to him".

"He treats a lot of people like that" Charlie replied.

"Mind if I join you guys" a voice said behind Charlie. "I was hoping for company that is much better than this food".

"Go ahead Adam" Charlie replied, seeing the black haired teen. "Wait, don't you usually eat all your meals with Ai?"

"I do, but she seems to be late" Adam said. "Speak of the devil, here she is now".

Ai could be seen entering the cafeteria pulling Denise along with her hand. No one thought too much of it except for Adam, who knew Ai too well to know that something was up between the two.

"Sorry I'm late" Ai said to Adam. "This is Denise everyone. She's my cellmate".

As everyone started to talk, Adam walked over to Ai. "Can we talk for a second?" Adam asked.

The duo walked out of the cafeteria and down the hall a bit before turning and facing each other.

"I hope you know what you're getting in to" Adam said.

"What are you talking about?" Ai asked.

"You and Denise" Adam said. "The others might not catch on for a while but I know what I see".

"Is there some sort of problem with me liking her?!" Ai barked back.

"No it's not that" Adam reaffirmed. "If you two truly like each other then I support it. However, you probably already know about her amnesia by now. What if she isn't the same person after she regains her memory, assuming she is able to? What happens then?"

The thought made sense to Ai and concerned her. What would she do?

"I'd… do my best to accept whatever kind of person she becomes" Ai replied.

"I'm sorry if I sound paranoid, but I care about you like family" Adam. "If Denise becomes a part of our family, then that's great. But I just don't want you getting hurt".

"You worry too much, pretty boy…"

The insane ward

"I'll only be able to make excuses for about 15 minutes before they'll want answers" Murph said to the brown haired girl beside him.

"Thanks for doing this" Robin said before going into the ward and the door closing behind her.

Robin did her best to look forward to avoid looking at the other inmates of the ward until she reached the given cell. Opening the door with the key she had, she tiptoed into the cell and sat next to the white haired girl she cared about so much.

"Good morning" Robin said, rubbing the girl's back.

"Hi Robin!" Alice squealed. "We're happy to see you!"

"I'm happy to see you too" Robin said with a smile. "Look, I brought you something".

"What is this?" Alice asked, taking the treat from Robin.

"It's a cinnamon bun" Robin said. "Go ahead and try it".

The pink eyed girl bit into the breakfast pastry and an ecstatic smile graced her face shortly after.

"It's really, really good!" Alice said. "Thank you mom… I mean Alice…"

"Why did you call me mom" Robin asked.

"Well… umm… isn't this what moms are supposed to do?" Alice asked.

"It's ok, you can call me mom if you want, but I prefer Robin" Robin said with a smile.

"Ok!" Alice said gleefully.

The two sat there for the next few minutes smiling and talking about whatever came to mind. Little did they know they were being watched by prying eyes…

Well, that's all for now everyone. I hope you guys enjoyed! Be sure to leave a review. I put a lot of effort into this chapter so I would greatly appreciate the support. Let's break 100 reviews guys!

Until next time Lazersword88, getting dinner!


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